The Importance of Shields
by whoson1st
Summary: The goodbyes have been said, and the Doctor and Rose are once again alone in the TARDIS, recovering from the events of the Master. However, when the Doctor forgets to put up the shields, they suddenly find themselves dealing with an unexpected guest and a collision with an unlucky ship. Rewrite of Time Crash/VotD, third story in the Written in the Stars series. Now complete.
1. Time Crash

_**So, I'm...let's say less than thrilled with the 50th anniversary episode. A reader who was also...less than thrilled...requested that I post this early to make up for the intense unhappiness that episode provoked. So here ya go. Still gonna be a few days before the rest of the story is done, but I should be able to at least post another chapter in the next day or two. Yay!**_

* * *

_"What?" she cried, and both men looked up at her before catching sight of each other._

_"What?" the Doctor—her Doctor—asked, staring at the man in the cream jacket._

_"What?" the…other Doctor demanded, staring at him._

"Who are you?" Five demanded, staring at the Doctor, then glancing at Rose again. "Who are either of you?"

"Ohh, but this is brilliant!" the Doctor cried, beaming at Five.

"Really?" Rose asked. "That's not what you said last time."

"Oh, well, yeah, I mean, totally wrong, big emergency, universe goes bang in five minutes," he explained quickly. "But...brilliant!"

"I'm the Doctor," Five said, eyeing the Doctor. "Who are you?"

"Yes, you are!" the Doctor said, still grinning widely. "You are the Doctor."

"Yes, I am," Five said, clearly confused, and Rose hid a smile behind her hand. "I'm the Doctor."

"Oh, good for you, Doctor," the Doctor said. "Good for brilliant old you."

"Is there something wrong with you?" Five asked, frowning at him.

"Oh there it goes!" the Doctor cried. "The frowny face, I remember that one! Mind you, bit saggier than it ought to be," he added, putting his hands on Five's face and squashing it around a bit. "Hair's a bit grayer. That's because of me, though, the two of us together has shorted out the time differential, should all snap back in place when we get you back home. Be able to close that coat again. But never mind that! Look at you! The hat, the coat, the crickety cricket stuff the...stick of celery..." he trailed off, his grin faltering a little.

"Oi, be nice," Rose said, stepping forward. "I happen to like the celery. Suits you," she added, reaching out and straightening the celery, then looking up at Five with her best tongue in teeth grin.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Five asked, looking down at her with a sort of confused smile.

"No," she said, shoving her hands into her back pockets. "Well...no time you'd remember."

"Oh, I think I'd find you rather hard to forget," he said, his grin becoming more confident. "What was your name?" he asked, holding out a hand.

"Rose," she said, putting her hand in his. "Rose Tyler."

"A pleasure to meet you, Rose, Rose Tyler," Five said with a wink, then leaned down to kiss her hand as she giggled.

"Alright," the Doctor said, gripping her waist and pulling her away from Five. "We get it, the celery is lovely. Fair play to you, not a lot of men can carry off a decorative vegetable."

"I was just saying hello," Rose said.

"Yeah," he said, glancing at her with an arched brow.

"Talking to her is far more pleasant than dealing with some skinny idiot ranting in my face about everything that happens to be in front of him," Five said, winking at Rose again before turning back to the console. "There is something wrong with my TARDIS and I've got to do something about it very, very quickly, and it would help, it really would help, if you would just be quiet."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry, Doctor," the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows and standing back.

"Thank you," Five said, moving around the console.

"Notice he didn't tell _you_ to be quiet," the Doctor muttered to Rose.

"_I'm _pleasant," she reminded him.

He arched an eyebrow with snarky laugh. "Right, pleasant. Rose, he was _flirting_ with you."

"Jealous of yourself again?" she asked with a cheeky grin.

"Of course not," he scoffed, glancing at his other self again and becoming immediately distracted. "Oh, look, the back of my head!"

"What?" Five asked, looking up at him again with a look of bewilderment.

"Sorry, sorry, not something you see every day, is it," he said. "The back of your own head."

"Seen a bit more of it lately," Rose commented with a snicker.

"That's true," the Doctor said, glancing at her before looking back at Five, studying the back of his head. "Mind you, I see why you wear a hat. I don't want to seem vain, but could you keep that on?"

"What have you done to my TARDIS?" Five demanded suddenly, looking around. You've changed the desktop theme...what is this one then, coral?"

"Well..."

"It's worse than the leopard skin," Five scoffed.

"I like this one," Rose said, putting a hand on a coral strut while her current Doctor grinned at her and Five glanced between them suspiciously.

"Well...I suppose it could grow on you," Five admitted grudgingly, and the Doctor chuckled. Five frowned at him and pulled out a pair of half-moon glasses.

"Ohhh, there they come!" the Doctor said delightedly, bouncing backwards and grinning. "The brainy specs!"

"You don't even need them, do you?" Rose accused, glancing between them. "You just think they make you look dashing and clever."

"Well..." the Doctor said, backpedaling furiously.

"Does it matter?" Five asked, smiling at her again. "It works in either case, don't you think?"

"God, some things never change," she said with a laugh.

An alarm sounded, and all three looked up.

"That's an alert," Five said, moving around the console as the Doctor and Rose moved around the other side toward the monitor. "Level five. Indicates a temporal collision. It's like two TARDISes have merged, but there's definitely only one TARDIS present. Looks like two time zones at war in the heart of the TARDIS. That's a paradox. Could blow a hole in the space time continuum the size of-"

"_Beligium_?" Rose said incredulously, staring at the monitor.

"What?" Five asked, looking over her shoulder suddenly. "That's a bit undramatic, isn't? Belgium?" He glanced down at Rose. "Hold on, how are you even able to read that? The TARDIS doesn't translate Gallifreyan."

"Long story," she said shortly. "Priorities, Doctor."

"Right," the Doctor said, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and dangling it in front of the monitor. "Need this?"

"No, I'm fine," Five said without even glancing at him.

"Oh no," the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow and wearing a snarky expression. "Of course, you mostly went hands free didn't you? It's like 'hey, I'm the Doctor, I can save the universe with a kettle and some string, and look at me, I'm wearing a vegetable!'"

_Be nice_, she hissed into the Doctor's mind, and he rolled his eyes before he noticed Five's head snap up to stare at them.

"Felt that, did you?" the Doctor asked softly.

"That's not possible," Five said, his eyes flitting between them.

"Sure about that?" the Doctor asked, arching an eyebrow. "Two TARDIS' in one place, time differential shorted out...a woman you've never met but seems familiar and you instinctively trust and care about?"

"Really?" Rose asked, smiling, and the Doctor winked at her.

"But that would mean..." Five said, trailing off.

"Take a look at the bone structure, Doctor," the Doctor said. "Cause one day, you're gonna be shaving it."

"And Rose..."

"Your future wife," the Doctor said, putting an arm around her waist. "Bond and everything. That's why you felt it even stronger than just noticing a telepathic bond," he continued before turning to Rose, completely ignoring the way Five opened his mouth to say something. "If he was anyone else, well...anyone telepathic, it would've just been a sort of tingle. With _him_, he could probably actually feel a little nudge in his mind. Not clear like me, mind, because he's me before the bond was created, but...something. Isn't that right?" he asked turning back to Five.

"You really don't ever stop talking, do you?" Five asked, staring at him in wonder, and Rose burst into laughter while the Doctor looked mildly offended.

"He really doesn't," Rose said just before an alarm went off.

"But this is...fascinating," Five said, stepping closer and studying Rose. "You're not even Gallifreyan."

"Nope," the Doctor said, pulling her closer again. "Mostly human...just a bit bigger on the inside. Trust me, you're gonna love her."

An alarm went off, and Rose leaned across him to look at the monitor. "Boys, don't mean to break this up, but that says it's at level ten."

"What?" Five asked, staring at her for a second, then glanced at the monitor and came to his snese. "Oh! Oh, this is bad. Two minutes to Belgium."

"So how do we avoid...Belgium?" Rose asked, glancing between them as the cloister bell went off.

"The Cloister Bell," Five said, glancing up.

"Yep, right on time," the Doctor said. "That's my cue."

Rose stepped back as both men jumped into action, flicking switches and pushing buttons as they danced around the console. Rose sat back on the jump seat and wished she had popcorn; as perilous as the situation might be, watch the Doctor try to work with himself was always entertaining.

"In less than a minute we're going to detonate a black hole strong enough to swallow the entire universe!" Five shouted.

"Yeah, that's my fault, actually," the Doctor said, pausing to look up at him. "I was rebuilding the TARDIS; forgot to put the shields back up. Your TARDIS and my TARDIS... well the same TARDIS, different points in its own time steam collided and, oop, there you go, end of the universe, butterfingers. But don't worry, I know exactly how this all works out," he added, dancing around the console again. "Venting the thermal buffer, flooring the Helmic regulator, and just to finish off, lets fry those Zeiton crystals."

"You'll blow up the TARDIS," Five said, reaching out to stop him.

"It's the only way out," the Doctor said firmly.

"Who told you that?" Five demanded.

"You told me that!" the Doctor replied, and pulled a lever. The time rotor flashed briefly, and the room shook, but otherwise everything appeared fine.

"What did you do?" Rose asked, standing up and glancing around.

"Supernova and black hole at the exact same instant," Five said in wonder.

"Explosion cancels out implosion," the Doctor said, straightening up.

"Matter stays constant," Five said.

"Brilliant!" Rose said with a grin before leaning up to kiss the Doctor's cheek.

"Far too brilliant," Five said. "I've never met anyone else who could fly the TARDIS like that."

"Sorry, mate," the Doctor said. "You still haven't."

"But...Doctor, I know you're good, but..." Rose trailed off looking at the monitor. "That was..._fast,_ even for you. How'd you work all that out so quick?"

"I didn't work it out," the Doctor said with a shrug. "I didn't have to."

"You remembered," Five said.

"Because you will remember," the Doctor explained.

"Hold on," Rose said, holding out a hand, feeling a headache coming on. "So...you remembered being him," she said pointing to Five, "watching you," she continued, crossing her other arm over the first to point at the Doctor, "doing that. So...you knew what to do because you watched yourself doing it?"

The Doctor grinned at her. "Wibbley wobbley…"

"Timey wimey!" he and Five said in unison, and Rose groaned, then laughed when the Doctor had an awkward moment involving an attempt at a high five that was roundly ignored by his other self. He shrugged it off, however, when an alarm sounded again.

"Oh, what now?" Rose asked as the Doctor once again jumped to the monitor..

"TARDISes are separating," the Doctor said. "Sorry, Doctor, time's up, back to long ago... Where are you now? Nyssa and Tegan, Cybermen and Mara and Time Lords in funny hats and-" He stopped, making a sort of strangled noise and looking away quickly, making Rose study him curiously.

Five gave him a strange look as well, but dismissed it and turned to Rose. "Well, Rose, Rose Tyler...I must say, I am looking forward to meeting you," he said, stepping forward to take her hand again.

"You and I are gonna be fantastic," she said, stepping forward to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, then put her hand over the spot and looked at him seriously. "You remember that, alright? Even if you can't remember all...this, you remember...you and I are gonna be fantastic, and I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"I shall certainly try," he said, smiling down at her warmly. She stepped back when he began to fade, and felt the Doctor's arm slip around her waist. "Oh, I seem to be off. What can I say? Thank you...Doctor."

"Thank you," the Doctor said.

"I'm very welcome," Five said as he faded completely, only to come back seconds later as the Doctor flipped a switch.

"You know...I loved being you," the Doctor said, picking Five's hat up off the console and walking toward him to hand it over. "Back when I first started, at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young. And then I was you... and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted... I still do that! The voice thing, I got that from you. Oh! And the trainers," he added, swinging his leg up onto the console. "And...snap," he said, slipping on his brainy specs. "'Cause you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor."

"To days to come," Five said, tipping his hat to both of them as the Doctor's arm once again went around her.

"All my love to long ago," the Doctor said before Five once again faded.

"Never a dull moment," Rose said, shaking her head slightly.

"Never ever," he said, smiling a little before pressing a kiss to her hair.

"What were you going to say?" she asked as he slipped off his brainy specs and turned back to the console. "When you were talking about where he was?"

"Doesn't matter," the Doctor said with a sniff as he reached for a button.

"Oh, Doctor," the voice of Five filtered in before Rose could say anything else. "Remember to put your shields up."

Suddenly, there was a blast of a ship's horn and a crash from TARDIS that sent them both flying amongst debris. They both groaned and coughed when it was still again, the Doctor touching her leg and glancing at her before she nodded that was alright. They both looked up at the same time to see the hull of a ship shoving its way through the wall of the console room.

"What?" the Doctor said, flabbergasted, as Rose knelt and picked up what appeared to be a life preserver, turning it over to see the word Titanic written over it.

"Doctor," she said, patting his arm hurriedly and nodding at it.

The Doctor stared at it, then back to the ship. "_What_?"


	2. Welcome to Christmas

_**In answer to several questions, I was incredibly disappointed by the 50th anniversary episode because of the way it cheapens the poignant struggle for redemption that so characterized the RTD era by altering the events of the Time War. There was a reason Gallifrey burned: the Time Lords were going to destroy the universe if they weren't destroyed. And no one can tell me that this is simply because they were driven to that in desperation because of the Time War, because they had a long history of being arrogant, myopic, selfish asshats with zero regard for anyone else, going all the way back to the very beginning of the show. That amazing character arc of Nine and Ten has been diluted to nothing more than borrowed guilt for something the Doctor didn't actually do, but simply has no memory of NOT doing. There's more that upset me, including the lack of resolution for the Zygons, the destruction of a historical figure, Billie Piper as fan fodder...but that's the biggest. It was such a complete "eff you" by Moffat to the creative minds that came before him.**_

_**That said, if you enjoyed it, I'm glad. Honestly. I'm not going to fight with anyone who thinks this was a brilliant move, I'm not going to try to change your mind. However, you should be warned that as far as I'm concerned, where this *story* is concerned, that never happened. Eight still used The Moment (and it was EIGHT), Gallifrey is still gone, and the Doctor still retains those earned battle scars. If Moffat has the right to completely retcon canon, I have the right to ignore it.**_

_**If for any reason this means that you don't want to continue reading my story either because you disagree with me personally or disagree with the idea of ignoring the changes brought about by the special, feel free.**_

_**Alright, rant over. Moving on to Christmas on the Titanic!**_

* * *

"What?" the Doctor said, flabbergasted, as Rose knelt and picked up what appeared to be a life preserver, turning it over to see the word Titanic written over it.

"Doctor," she said, patting his arm hurriedly and nodding at it.

The Doctor stared at it, then back to the ship. "_What_?"

"Doctor, please tell me that this doesn't mean the TARDIS was the iceberg that sank the Titanic," Rose said, her eyes flitting between him and the ship.

"Of course not," he said, still staring at the ship. "At least, it shouldn't. I was there. Big iceberg. Definitely not me. This is…hold on."

He jumped up and danced around the console, throwing another life preserver to the side as he worked the controls. In a moment, the ship was being pushed out of console room as the wall knitted itself back together.

"Good girl," he said. "Resiliant, good word for our lovely ship, Rose. Anyway...fancy a look around?"

"Obviously," she said, and he grinned at her as he worked the controls once again before grabbing her hand and darting over to the doors.

They poked their heads out together into some sort of cupboard, and the Doctor arched an eyebrow and shook his head when Rose rolled her eyes up to him before urging her out of the door. The Doctor paused to check the side of the ship while they brushed themselves off, then moved out into a corridor that led to some sort of sitting room with a bar.

"Tell you what," the Doctor said, looking around as Rose stepped closer to the golden angels at the side of the room. She jumped back when one of them moved its head to look at her. "This is not 1912. That serving girl's skirt is way too short to be allowed in the early 20th century, for one thing."

Rose snorted, and he looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Oh, yeah, clearly, first clue that the time might be a little off is how short the waitress's skirt is. Never mind the angel robots in the corner."

"Oh...right," he said, glancing at them. "Well...yeah, obviously, that too. Um." He took a deep breath as she arched an eyebrow at him, lips twitching. "Rose, I wasn't...I mean, it's not...oh, look, pretty sure there weren't any tiny red aliens on the Titanic either," he said, nodding behind her and stepping resolutely away.

She laughed and shook her head, then caught sight of a window and moved toward it.

"Doctor," she called.

"Riiight," he said, stepping behind her and looking over her shoulder at the planet Earth below them.

"Attention all passengers," a voice said over the PA. "The Titanic is now in orbit above Sol 3, also known as Earth. Population: Human. As the man is speaking, we see a spaceship modeled to look like the Titanic in space above the Earth. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Christmas."

oOoOo

"So, if you were on the first Titanic, why'd it still...you know...happen?" Rose asked from behind a changing wall in their bedroom as he tied his bowtie.

"Fixed point," he explained in a leaden voice. "Had to happen...for some reason."

"What makes something a fixed point?" she asked.

"Depends," he said with a shrug. "Sometimes it's something that has an enormous effect on human history, sometimes it's because of the people involved...sometimes it's just because of when and where."

"But you saved that family," she pointed out.

"True," he said. "But...it's different, sometimes. Sometimes an event is fixed, but not all of the people involved are."

In the mirror, he saw her peek around the wall at him.

"How do you keep all that straight in your head?" she asked.

"Well, I do have a rather mind," he said, smiling at her, then chuckling as she rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she disappeared once more. The smile faded slightly when he remembered the family, the one that had been so kind to him when he'd wanted to forget everything, forget who and what he was...the way they'd actually believed him when he begged them to avoid the ship, while most people would probably have had him sectioned. He shook himself, dislodging the shadows. "You knew about the family?"

"Course I did," she said as he rounded the wall. "It was one of the first things I knew about you, after all."

"Really?" he asked, leaning against a wall as she pulled on her dress. "How'd you find that out?"

"Research," she said, throwing the halter ties over her shoulders. "After you took off again with your high and mighty 'that's who I am, now forget me' speech, I found someone who'd made you a bit of a hobby of his. He told me about it."

"You were always a terrible listener," he murmured, running his hands up her arms and over her shoulders. He pulled at the ties to her dress, tying them behind her neck before leaning down and kissing the spot softly. She sighed and leaned back against him, and his arms went around her waist as he pressed another kiss to the top of her head. "I really hope this ship doesn't live up to its name."

"Or that suit live up to its reputation," she added with a grin, turning and straightening his bow tie.

"And it's Christmas," he reminded her. He looked up thoughtfully, running his tongue over his upper teeth. He'd just gotten her back, and she'd just gotten out of a nightmare. This is what they did, yeah, but...this was different. This was awfully close to that trauma, with a lot of uncomfortable parallels to other bad scenarios they'd been in. "You know, maybe...and you know I don't often say this, but maybe we should just...go."

She looked up at him for a moment, and he saw the uncertainty in her eyes even as he felt it in his mind, but just for an instant. Then she took a deep breath and smiled up at him brilliantly.

"Course we'll stay," she said, and he gave her a small smile. "Would hate to think we've gotten boring, much less spooked by a name and a dinner jacket."

"Speaking of outfit choice," he said, burying his trepidation and taking her hand to spin her around. "Not exactly early 20th century finery."

She looked down, smoothing down the unevenly hemmed skirt of her Marilyn Monroe-esque halter dress.

"Well, we've done that," she reasoned. "Back when we were John and Marion-"

She froze as _Marion the Librarian_ started playing around them, then glared up at the ceiling as he grinned. She crossed her arms, tapping her foot pointedly until the music began to fade.

"Point is, I've done that," she continued. "And I've been in a jumpsuit for...a long time," she added, and he winced. "I feel pretty in this, so this is what I'm wearing. Any problem with that?"

"Absolutely not," he said, grinning and arching an eyebrow. He leaned down to give her a quick kiss before holding out his arm to escort his lovely wife to the party on the Titanic, genuinely hoping, for once, that's all it would be.

oOoOo

"Max Capricorn Cruiseliners," a video said as the Doctor and Rose watched. "The fastest, the farthest, the best. And I should know because my name is Max."

His gold tooth glinted, and the both raised their eyebrows.

"D'you think it actually does that?" Rose asked.

"Depends how much he paid for it," the Doctor said with a shrug as they walked toward the reception hall.

"Merry Christmas, sir," a steward said. "Madam."

"Merry Christmas," the Doctor said, smiling at him as he ushered Rose into the large hall.

"Oh...this is a bit posh," Rose said, looking around at the tasteful decorations and well-dressed crowd, feeling out of place and a little overwhelmed despite her assurance that this was a good idea. The Doctor's arm was immediately around her waist, tethering her to something real and sane amidst the madness. She glanced up at him, and he gave her a wink as she felt warm reassurance pass over her before he pulled her through the crowd. They exchanged an amused glance as a businessman passed them, still deep in trading despite the festive surroundings, before the Doctor turned to one of the robot angels.

"Evening," he said. "Passenger 57. Terrible memory. Remind me. Uh, you would be..."

"Information: Heavenly Host supplying tourist information," it reported.

"Good," he said, nodding. "So, um...tell me—'cause I'm an idiot—where are we from?"

"Information," the Host said. "The Titanic is en route from the planet Sto in the Cassavalian Belt. The purpose of the cruise is to experience primitive cultures."

Rose snorted. "Right. And what genius decided to call it 'The Titanic'?"

"Information: it was chosen as the most famous vessel of the planet Earth."

"Course it was," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Did they tell you why it was famous?" the Doctor asked.

"Information," the Host said. "All designations are chosen by Mr Max Capricorn, president of Max – Max – Max—"

The Doctor followed its head as it twitched and repeated the name in an increasingly higher pitch.

"Ooh, bit of a glitch," he said, reaching into his pocket, but stopped when the steward hurried over.

"Sir, we can handle this," he said, waving over two other stewards for assistance before reaching behind the Host and shutting it off. It sagged and fell back before being carted off by the other stewards. "Software problem, that's all. Leave it with us, sir. Merry Christmas. Ma'am," he added, tipping his hat before hurrying off again. He wasn't quite out of ear shot when they heard him mutter, "That's another one down. What's going on with these things?"

"I'm sure it's nothing," the Doctor said slowly as they watched the man depart after the damaged Host. "Like he said, software problem. Sure it's...fine."

Rose snorted, then glanced up at him. They were both on edge, and probably reading too much into things. She took a deep breath, trying to loosen the knot in her stomach.

"Sometimes a glitch really is just a glitch, Doctor," she said, taking his hand. "Come on, it's Christmas, and it's a party...I think, what we need, is a lot of champagne and a dance or three."

"Right you are, Rose Tyler," he said, relaxing slightly and smiling at her.

They'd only gotten a couple of steps, however, when there was a crash in front of them as the waitress dropped her drinks tray.

"For Tov's sake, look where you're going!" the businessman from earlier snapped. "This jacket's a genuine Earth antique."

"I'm sorry, sir," the waitress said quickly as she knelt down to pick up the broken glass.

"You'll be sorry when it comes off your wages, sweetheart," he replied nastily. "Staffed by idiots. No wonder—"

"Oi," Rose interjected, stepping forward before the Doctor could stop her. "What the hell makes you think you can talk to her like that?"

"My ticket fare that's paying her undeserved wages," the businessman said, eyeing her in distaste. "Not that it's any of your economy class business anyhow."

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up as the man turned on his heel and stormed off.

"What a bloody tosser," Rose muttered, bending down to help the waitress.

"It's alright, miss," the waitress said. "I've heard worse."

"Yeah?" Rose asked. "Doesn't make it right...or him any less of a tosser. Like to see him do your job for an hour. Oh!" she cried, putting a finger to her mouth as a glass shard sliced at her.

"Careful," the Doctor said, crouching beside Rose to help with the cleanup. "There we go."

"Thank you," the girl said, glancing at them. "I can manage."

"Never said you couldn't," Rose said. "I'm Rose Tyler, this is the Doctor. What's your name?"

"Astrid, miss," she said. "Astrid Peth."

"Nice to meet you, Astrid Peth," the Doctor said with a grin. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, sir," she said with a surprised smile.

"Just 'Doctor'," he said as they stood, his hand floating up to rest lightly on Rose's shoulder. "Not sir. Same goes for Rose."

"You enjoying the cruise?" Astrid asked.

"Hard to say," Rose said. "Haven't really had much chance to look around. But what about you? Different sky and everything?"

"Yeah, planet Sto," the Doctor said. "You're a long way from home."

"Doesn't feel that different," Astrid said with a shrug. "I spent three years working at the spaceport diner, travelled all the way here...and I'm still waiting on tables."

"What, you're not allowed out for...dunno, shore leave or something?" Rose asked, following her.

Astrid shook her head as she started clearing a table. "They can't afford the insurance. I just wanted to try it, just once. I used to watch the ships heading off to the stars and I always dreamt of..." She trailed off, looking out the window at the earth below, then shook herself before glancing up at them. "It sounds daft."

"You dreamt of getting out there," Rose said gently. "Seeing everything the universe had to offer, all those suns you've never seen, all that life, all those different skies. I get that, I do. I was a shopgirl before I met the Doctor here. Then...once I saw it...why stand still when there's all that life out there?"

"So...you travel a lot?" Astrid asked as the Doctor wound an arm around Rose's waist, his thumb running over her bottom ribs.

"All the time," he said. "Just for fun. Well, that's the plan. Never quite works," he added with a frown.

"Must be rich, though," she said.

"Haven't got a penny," he said easily, and Astrid looked between them in confusion.

"Stowaways," Rose whispered.

"Kidding," Astrid said.

"Seriously," Rose said, smiling.

"No!" the waitress said.

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor said, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you get on board?" she asked.

"Accident," the Doctor said. "I've got this, sort of, ship thing. I was just rebuilding her. Left the defences down, bumped into the Titanic. Here I am. Bit of a party, I thought 'Why not?'"

"I should report you," Astrid said.

"Go on then," Rose said. Astrid glanced between them again, then smiled.

"I'll get you two drinks," she said. "On the house."

The Doctor glanced down at Rose as the waitress moved away. She was looking around the room and biting at a nail, a sure sign of some level of anxiety.

"You okay?" he asked, trying to judge her mood by the bond. Not panicked, definitely...but not comfortable either.

"Yeah," she said quickly, flashing him a smile that was brilliant but didn't quite reach her eyes. She'd been fine with one on one interactions with Astrid, but mingling at large was still a daunting prospect. She was trying incredibly hard to be normal, to act like being around so many people in such a rich atmosphere wasn't so strange and overwhelming for her. Just the fact that she had to make so much of an effort broke his heart, but he knew she'd only get angry if he tried suggesting again that they leave. He glanced around the room and found a table that was empty save for a fun looking pair, and pulled Rose forward, passing a group of laughing first class passengers on the way.

"Something's tickled them," he commented as he pulled out a chair for Rose, then slid into a seat beside her.

"They told us it was fancy dress," the woman said, gesturing to her flashy western attire. "Very funny, I'm sure."

"They're just pickin' on us because we haven't paid," the man said. "We won our tickets in a competition."

"I had to name the five husbands of Joofie Crystalle in _By the Light of the Asteroid,_" the woman confided._ "_Did you ever watch..."

"Ehm..." he trailed off, glancing at Rose, who arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Is that the one with the twins?"

"That's it," the woman said as Rose chuckled. "Oh, it's marvelous."

"Probably not good enough for that lot," the man said, motioning to the laughing group. "They think we should be in steerage."

"Gits," Rose muttered glancing back at them.

"Now, Rose," the Doctor said, reaching for his sonic screwdriver and stealthily pointing it behind him under his arm. "Maybe they just need to be taught some manners."

Behind him, a champagne bottle popped its cork, followed quickly by surprised shrieks and squeals from the group as they were doused by the spray.

"Did-Did you do that?" the man asked.

"Maybe," the Doctor said with a sniff as he slipped the screwdriver back into his jacket.

"Smooth," Rose said with a grin.

"Well," he said, grinning back.

"We like you," the woman said, laughing.

"We do," the man said, reaching forward to shake their hands. "I'm Morvin van Hoff. This is my good woman, Foon."

"Foon," the Doctor said as he shook her hand. "Hello, I'm the Doctor, and this is my wife, Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Rose," Foon said, shaking her hand before sitting back and groaning. "Glad I met that husband of yours...I'm gonna need a Doctor by the time I'm finished with this buffet. Have a buffalo wing. They must be enormous, these buffalo, so many wings," she added as they both took a buffalo wing.

"Attention please," a voice called over the PA. "Shore leave tickets Red 6-7 now activated. Red 6-7."

"Red 6-7. That's us," Foon said, taking out a ticket and standing. "Are you Red 6-7?"

The Doctor exchanged a glance with Rose, then shrugged and smiled. "Might as well be."

"Come on," Morvin said, putting an arm around Foon. "We're going to Earth."

The Doctor grinned, taking Rose's hand as he followed the couple hurrying toward the man holding up the sign.

"Doctor," Rose said, catching sight of Astrid coming towards them. "Think we could make that psychic paper work as a group ticket?"

He followed her gaze and shrugged. "Don't see why not."

"I got you those drinks," Astrid said.

"And we got you a treat," the Doctor said, taking her tray and putting it on the table. "Come on."

"Red 6-7 departing shortly," the man with the sign was saying as they approached.

"Red 6-7," the Doctor said. "Plus…two."

"Two?" the man said, looking confused and peering at the two blondes, even as Astrid tried to hide behind the Doctor.

"Yes?" the Doctor said. "That's what it says, right there. Plus two. Special arrangement. They're sisters, you see, from the planet Rigorolomax, and can't be separated for any real length of time for a distance of over fifty—"

"Yes, yes, alright," the man said, handing him teleportation bracelets. "Just take them. You'll each need one."

"Nicely done," Rose said as she took a bracelet, and he winked at her. "Is that even a real place?"

"Of course it is," he said. "The universe is strange enough without me having to make things up _all_ the time. Astrid," he added, holding out a bracelet to her.

"I'll get the sack," she said, glancing around nervously.

"C'mon," Rose urged, taking the bracelet and slipping it on Astrid's wrist. "Brand new sky."

Astrid looked between them, but then nodded with a smile, and they all turned to face front again.

"To repeat," the man at the front said. "I am Mr Copper, the ship's historian, and I shall be taking you to old London town in the country of U.K. ruled over by good King Wenceslas. Now human beings worshipped the great god Santa, a creature with fearsome claws, and his wife Mary. And every Christmas Eve the people of U.K. go to war with the country of Turkey. They then eat the Turkey people for Christmas dinner... like savages."

"Hold on, sorry, where'd you get that from?" Rose asked.

"Well, I have a first class degree in Earthonomics," Mister Copper said, and Rose exchanged a bemused glance with the Doctor. "Now stand by..."

"And me!" called a high pitched voice behind them. They turned to see the tiny red alien the Doctor had spotted earlier tottering toward them at speed, waving his red ticket. "And me! Red 6-7!"

"Well, take a bracelet, sir," Mr Copper said quickly, barely glancing at him.

"Doctor, he'll cause a riot down there," Rose whispered, grabbing his arm.

"Too right," the Doctor muttered. "Hold on, hold on. What was your name?"

"Bannakaffalatta," the little alien supplied promptly.

"OK, Bannakaffalatta," he said. "But it's Christmas Eve down there. Late-night shopping, tons of people. He's like a walking conker. No offence, but you'll cause a riot 'cause the streets are going to be packed with shoppers and parties—oh."

He was cut short when they were abruptly teleported and found themselves looking around at an empty street in London.

"Now, spending money," Mr Copper said, unaware that anything was amiss. "I have a credit card in Earth currency if you want to by trinkets or, uh, stockings or the local delicacy, which is known as 'beef' but don't stray too far, it could be dangerous. Any day now they start boxing."

"Seriously, someone really needs to update his information," Rose said, shaking her head as he walked away. "But, hold on, Doctor…it's Christmas. Where is everybody?"

The Doctor looked around with a scowl, the already heightened tension ratcheting up another few notches.

"It should be full," he muttered. "It should be busy. Something's wrong…"

"But it's beautiful," Astrid said rapturously, and they both turned to look at her in surprise.

"You think so?" Rose asked, looking down the street critically. "It's just a street. Sure you've got them back on Sto."

"Sure, but that's Sto," the girl said. "This is Earth. A different planet. I'm standing on a different _planet_. There's – there's concrete...and shops, alien shops, real alien shops! Look, new stars in the sky. And it smells. It stinks!" She gasped as their eyebrows shot up, exchanging an amused glance. "This is amazing! Thank you!"

She bounded over and hugged first the Doctor, then Rose, before skipping away again.

"Yeah?" the Doctor asked, pleased. "Come on then, let's have a look."

He took Rose's hand, and the three of them crossed the street to a newsagent's booth, the only thing that seemed open and occupied for whatever reason.

"Hello," Rose greeted the older gentleman in the booth. "Merry Christmas."

"Oh, and you, sweetheart," the man said, grinning back at her. "Having a good night of it?"

"So far, yeah," Rose replied. "But, um, stupid question...where is everyone?"

"Oh-ho, scared!"

"What of?" she asked, feeling the Doctor tensing immediately at her side.

"Where have you been living?" the man asked. "London at Christmas? Not safe, is it?"

"No less than any other time," Rose said, frowning. "Lived here for nineteen years, never seen the place abandoned like this."

"Well, it's them, up above," the man said, pointing skyward. All three of them gave him blank looks. "Look, Christmas before last we had that big bloody spaceship, everyone standing on a roof. And then last year, that Christmas Star electrocuting all over the place, draining the Thames."

"This place is amazing," Astrid said, wide eyed, and the Doctor and Rose both glanced at her before exchanging a guilty look.

"And this year, Lord knows what," the man continued. "So everybody's scarpered, gone to the country. All except me...and Her Majesty," he added, nodding at the little television in his stand, showing a news report of Buckingham Palace.

_"Her Majesty the Queen has confirmed that she will be staying in Buckingham Palace throughout the festive season to show the people of London, and the world, that there's nothing to fear."_

"God bless her!" the man said, saluting. "We stand vigil."

"God save the Queen," the Doctor murmured, staring at the screen and pulling Rose a few inches closer to him. There wasn't supposed to be anything that year, but he could feel it, the flux. Something could still happen. Something usually did.

"What's that?" the man asked.

"Oh...um, nothing," the Doctor said, trying to shake himself free of as yet unwarranted worry and looking at the man. "You know…I think her Majesty's got it right. Far as I know, nothing is gonna happen this year."

Before he could say anything else, however, they were back on the ship, looking around in confusion.


	3. Rock Storm

_**Okay, just gotta get this out there. **_**_It is perfectly alright to disagree with me. I believe I said as much. It is not alright to claim that I'm not a fan because I disagree with a move made on the show. An honest-to-god writer for the show told me that a.) my points were valid and that I should go with my gut instinct, b.) while he loved that episode, he has been disappointed with others, and that's also alright, and c.) that one of the great things about Doctor Who, as well as the fandom, is that we can be so invested that divisive plans like the one in the 50th can spur debate. He also reminded me that the OTHER great thing about Doctor Who is that it is constantly changing, with different Doctors and different showrunners, and in general cooled some of the fiery rage (although I still think the decision to bring back Gallifrey was poorly thought out, and that the episode suffered from some serious dream logic). So don't tell me I'm not a fan because I have a laundry list of issues right now. If you really think that, you can kindly suck it._**

_**Kay, moving on.**_

_**This is up later than I planned, but it's up. That's what counts. Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers, Happy Thursday to everyone else (or Friday, depending on your time zone).**_

* * *

"I was in mid-sentence!" the Doctor complained.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that," Mr Copper said. "A bit of a problem. If I could have your bracelets –"

"Apologies, ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta," the Chief Steward said, joining them. "We seem to have suffered a slight power fluctuation. If you'd like to return to the festivities. And on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners, free drinks will be provided."

"That was the best," Astrid said, hugging Rose as the others departed, then turning to the Doctor and squeezing his arm. "The best!"

They both smiled as she hurried off, but the Doctor's was frowning again in seconds. He glanced around and grabbed Rose's hand as he approached the Chief Steward.

"What sort of power fluctuation?" he asked in a low voice.

"Perfectly normal," the man responded with a customer service, plastic smile. "Regrettable that it had to happen during your shore leave, but I can assure you, it's nothing to worry about. Enjoy your evening."

The Steward turned on his heel and walked swiftly away, and the Doctor watched him with narrowed eyes. It could be normal. It absolutely could be. There was every possibility that there was absolutely nothing wrong, and he hadn't dragged his wife into a risky situation the day after getting her back from the dead. Of course there was. Except—

He glanced around the room, and then moved swiftly to one of the video screens showing Max Capricorn on a loop, Rose following close behind. She moved to his side as he slipped on his glasses, blocking him from view when he proceeded to use the sonic screwdriver to crack open the frame. He played with the controls behind the screen until Max's face was replaced with a schematic of the Titanic itself, showing something was very wrong indeed.

"Offline?" he muttered. "Why've they got their shields offline?"

"Doctor," Rose said, tapping his arm. She was looking out the window with wide eyes, and he followed her gaze to see a group of meteors approaching the ship. He glanced at the screen, then back at the window in horror. An iron band tightened around his chest when he glanced at Rose, and it took everything in him not to grab her and pull her back to the TARDIS with him. He let out a stream of curses as he fiddled with the comms controls, vowing that once he got a hold of the Captain and the situation was remedied, he was getting them the hell off this blasted ship.

"Is that the bridge?" he asked quickly when the line opened. "I need to talk to the captain. You've got a meteoroid storm coming in West 0 by North 2."

"Who is this?" a voice demanded.

"Never mind that," the Doctor snapped, glancing out the window again. "Your shields are down. Check your scanners, Captain. You've got meteoroids coming in and no shielding!"

"You have no authorization," the voice said. "You will clear the comms at once."

"Yeah?" he shouted. "Just look starboard!"

"Doctor!" Rose interjected as two Stewards approached them swiftly, and he rolled his eyes as they each took one of his arms.

"Come with me, sir," one of them said.

"You've got a rock storm heading for this ship and the shields are down!" he insisted.

The Stewards kept walking, but were paying no attention to Rose at all. She took the opportunity for what it was, running up to the stage and grabbing the microphone from the singer.

"Everybody, listen to me!" she shouted into the mic. "This is an emergency! Get to the lifeb -"

She was cut off as one of the Host put a hand over her mouth and dragged her bodily from the stage.

"Let her go!" the Doctor shouted, pulling away from the Stewards and leaping for Rose, only to be grabbed again and pulled away more forcibly than before. Rose was handed off to a Steward, who she promptly hit in the nose with a flat hand and spun away from.

"Astrid, look out the windows!" she cried as two more Stewards came forward to once again drag her away. For a moment she fought against it only because there were more important things than being detained, but as their stronger arms continued to restrain her, she became increasingly desperate, her breathing becoming shallow.

"Let her go," the Doctor repeated, his voice murderous as he saw Rose's struggle shift from anger to panic. For a moment he saw a very different set of circumstances, one she didn't remember, but had involved her struggling in much the same way before—he looked away, swallowing hard. The Stewards ignored him, so he added, through clenched teeth, "Listen, if you don't believe us, check the shielding yourself!"

He was once again roundly ignored as the Stewards "escorted them" out of the room. Astrid, Morvin and Foon all followed after the group, trying to help them, but the Doctor ignored them as he tried to do several things at once. This consisted mainly of sending reassurances to Rose through their bond as her traumatized mind rebelled and trying to figure out how the hell to get to another control panel and turn on the shielding himself before that bloody rock storm became this ship's iceberg. He was vaguely aware of Mister Copper saying that the teleports were down, but the Steward shrugged him off.

"But that," Rose gasped, and he glanced at her again in concern as she tried valiantly to keep a handle on herself. "That means…means no one…no one can get off."

He cursed and pulled against the Stewards again.

"You need to stop that, or we _will_ put you down," one of the Stewards said as they moved into the maintenance corridors, trailed by his little group of supporters voicing their concern, and he growled in frustration.

"Listen to me," he tried again desperately, time running out. "You have no shielding, we are going to get hit!"

"Oi! Steward!" a voice shouted behind them, and all the Stewards stopped and glanced back at the snooty businessman from earlier. "I'm telling you the shields are down!"

"Listen to him!" Rose shouted in a hoarse voice. "He's your bloody first class ticket! If you won't listen to us, listen to him!"

"Red Alert," a computer voice intoned. "Red Alert."

"We'll take you to the captain," the Chief Steward said, glancing around. "We'll deal with this supposed shield issue and your disturbance together."

"Fine, wonderful, but _quickly_," the Doctor said. "And please, for the love of god, _let her go._ Look at her!"

The Stewards holding Rose looked down at her, then loosened their grip marginally when they finally noticed she was shaking from head to toe. Before they managed to move another meter, however, the ship rocked, throwing them off their feet and freeing both detainees as the lights exploded around them.

"Rose!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing her as the ship was hit again. "Morvin, Astrid!" he called, looking back, and nodded when Morvin pulled the tiny Astrid closer to himself and his wife, protecting her. He bowed his head over Rose, tucked firmly into his chest as meteors continued to pummel the ship, explosions punctuating the impacts and taking out three of the Stewards as they screamed. He kept a tight hold on Rose even as they were knocked back into a wall, his breath leaving him in a whoosh on impact, but he turned quickly, trying to protect his eyes as well as his wife from flying debris.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rocking finally stopped, and only the sound of heavy breathing by the terrified survivors could be heard. The Doctor looked up, glancing around at the fires caused by explosions, but nothing more seemed life threatening, so he turned his attention to Rose.

"You okay?" he asked softly, the hand that had been next to her head, bracing him against the wall, moving to her cheek as she nodded. "Sure?"

"Yeah," she said, running hand through her hair. "Bad name for a ship, though. And I'm burning that suit when we get back to the TARDIS," she added with a shaky laugh, and he smiled a little. She sucked in a deep breath, and he raised an eyebrow, but she nodded. Nothing like a destructive meteor storm ripping through a ship to snap someone out of a panic attack. He nodded, then gave her a kiss on the forehead before stepping over to the fallen Stewards. They had all been standing close together, taken out with a single blast, tangled together unnaturally. He didn't even bother to check for pulses—no one looked like that and kept breathing. Well, except maybe Jack.

"Everyone else alright?" he asked, rising again and looking down the corridor toward the rest of the group. There were some shaky affirmations, and the Chief Steward looked from his subordinates to the Doctor, a question in his eyes, but the Doctor only shook his head. The Steward nodded, and, straightening his jacket, turned to the group.

"Ev-everyone," he stammered, then paused to try to pull himself together before continuing. "Ladies and gentlemen, Bannakaffalatta, I must apologize on behalf of Max Capricorn Cruiseliners. We seem to have had a small collision."

"Small?" Morvin asked indignantly as the Doctor started looking around for a control panel.

"You know how much I paid for my ticket?" the businessman demanded, and the Doctor glanced back at Rose as they both rolled their eyes as everyone began arguing, impervious to the Steward's attempts to regain order.

"OI!" Rose finally shouted, and everyone stopped to stare at her. "Really sorry that the meteors didn't account for how much your ticket cost," she said in a lower voice, glaring at the businessman. "But I think it's important to point out that we're still alive. So let's quit with the arguing and try to focus on how to stay that way, alright?"

There was some mumbling from the group, and the Doctor smiled at Rose as he made his way back to the group. She only shook her head in exasperation as she moved toward Astrid, tending to a wound on Mister Copper's head.

"She raises a very good point," the Steward said, taking advantage of the quiet Rose had achieved. "After all, the Titanic a fine, sturdy ship. If you could all stay here while I ascertain the exact nature of the –the situation."

He went to the hatch to look out, and the Doctor shouted out a warning as he leapt forward, but it was too late. The Chief Steward was lost immediately to the inescapable vacuum, while everyone else immediately took hold of anything they could grab before following in his wake. The Doctor moved with effort back toward the control box, groaning loudly when he was once again thrown against the wall. He pushed off again and grabbed the box, anchoring himself in place as he ran his sonic screwdriver over the controls until the shields restored themselves. Everyone immediately fell to the floor in the sudden lack of suction, but the Doctor was the first to scramble to his feet.

"Everyone all right?" he asked. "Rose?"

"Fine," she replied, waving a hand as she got to her feet.

"Astrid?"

"Yeah," the waitress panted.

"Foon? Morvin?" The couple both waved from further down the corridor. "Mr Copper? Bannakaffalatta?"

"Yes," replied the little red alien.

The Doctor nodded, then turned to the businessman. "You, what was your name?"

"Ah, Rickston Slade," he answered.

"You all right?"

"No thanks to that idiot," Slade sneered.

"The Steward just died," Astrid said angrily.

"Then he's a dead idiot," Slade amended nastily. The Doctor glanced at the two blondes, who looked ready to show him what a dead idiot really looked like, and took a hurried step forward.

"All right, calm down," he said, holding out a hand. "Just stay still, all of you. Hold on."

He turned and walked toward the hatch opening, touching the frame lightly as he looked out into space.

"This wasn't an accident, was it?" Rose asked quietly as she joined him.

"I don't think so," he said shaking his head as Astrid walked up, looking between them out at the bodies floating among the debris.

"How many dead?" the waitress asked.

The Doctor glanced at her, then at Rose, before turning his attention back to her, leaning down to grasp her upper arms as he looked straight into her eyes.

"We're alive, just focus on that," he urged. "I will get you out of here, Astrid. I promise. Look at me. I promise." She nodded, and he straightened, releasing her and turning back to Rose. "Good. Now if we can get to Reception, we can get to the TARDIS. We can all get everyone here onboard, plus anyone we come across on the way—"

"Doctor," Rose interrupted, looking over his shoulder. He followed her gaze and deflated a little when he saw his ship floating away from them.

"What is it?" Astrid asked. "What's wrong?"

"That's our spaceship over there," he said, nodding towards it.

"Where?" she asked, peering out.

"There, that box," Rose said, pointing to it. "That little blue box."

"That's a spaceship?" Astrid asked, eyeing it doubtfully.

"Oi, don't knock it," the Doctor said, always quick to defend his ship.

"It's a bit small," she pointed out.

"A bit distant," the Doctor said, rather than correcting her. "Trouble is, once it's set adrift, it's programmed to lock onto the nearest center of gravity and that would be...the Earth."

"So we're stuck," Rose said evenly as the TARDIS picked up speed and headed to the planet below, and he nodded once. "How do we always get stuck?"

"Bad luck," the Doctor said, then glanced down at her. "Okay, a _lot_ of bad luck. Still...we're alive, and we're together. Could be worse."

"Could definitely be worse," she muttered, her eyes unfocusing, and he mentally kicked himself as he turned toward the comms. One day, they'd be able to have a conversation without unintentionally reminding each other of the last year to eighteen months...this was clearly not that day.

"Deck 22 to the bridge," he said into the comms, pushing the thought away. "Deck 22 to the bridge. Is there anyone there?"

He waited, losing hope with each passing second, before a voice suddenly came through.

"This is the bridge."

"Oh hello, sailor," he said with a happy grin at something finally going at least partially his way. "Good to hear you. What's the situation up there?"

"We've got air," the voice from the bridge said. "The oxygen field is holding. But the captain...He's dead. He did it." His voice broke as he continued, and the Doctor and Rose exchanged a glance. "I watched while he took down the shields. There was nothing I could do. I tried. I did try."

"Course you did," Rose said soothingly, stepping closer to the comms. "It's alright, calm down. What's your name?"

"Frame," the man said, and they could hear him trying to pull himself together. "Midshipman Frame."

"Nice to meet you, sir," the Doctor said, taking over again. "What's the state of the engines?"

"They're um...hold on," he said, then groaned.

"You alright, mate?" Rose asked, frowning. "You hurt?"

"I'm alright," he said quickly. "Oh my vot. They're cycling down."

"That's a nuclear storm drive, yes?" the Doctor asked, rubbing an eye as he thought hard.

"Yeah," Frame said from the bridge.

"Doctor, this is bad," Rose said in a low voice. "Those go down, we lose orbit…then…"

"Yeah, I know," he muttered. "We fall, life on Earth gets wiped out. Okay, Midshipman, here's what I need you to do. I need you to fire up the engine containment field and feed it back into the core."

"This is never going to work," Frame said.

"Trust me, it'll keep the engines going until I can get to the bridge," the Doctor said.

"We're going to die!" Foon broke in, and Rose whirled around to face the group.

"Are you saying someone's done this on purpose?" Mr Copper asked, stunned.

"We're just a cruise ship!" Astrid wailed.

"Just...just calm down, everyone," Rose said, holding out her hands as the Doctor switched off the comms and turned to face the group. "We're not going to die. We're going to figure a way out of this."

"Listen, when I want to be reassured by a trophy wife, then maybe I'll come to you," Slade snapped, stepping forward toward the comms. "Right now, I want to know how this obviously dimwitted Midshipman is going to get us back to Sto alive."

"Okay," the Doctor said, moving slightly to block his path—as well as Rose, who was quite obviously running out of patience with the businessman. "I'm not going to bother correcting you on all the points you're wrong about, just trust me that you are. Here's what's going to happen instead. One: we're going to climb through this ship. B…no…two: we're going to reach the bridge. Three—or C: we're going to save the Titanic. And, coming in a very low Four or D or that little "iv" in brackets they use in footnotes…why. Right then, follow me."

He turned away, taking Rose by the arm to urge her along with him, but stopped when Slade started speaking again.

"And who put you in charge?" he demanded. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

He turned again, done arguing with the lot of them. "I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save _your_ lives and all _six billion_ of the people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?"

"No," Slade said after a moment, the whole group staring at the Oncoming Storm while Rose smirked.

The Doctor nodded decisively. "In that case, allons-y!"


	4. Cybernetic Psychos

**_Finally managing to get another chapter up now that the term paper is done, yay!_**

**_Also small thing. Over the weekend, someone uploaded the prologue of the Wolf and the Thief as their own story. It was reported and taken down within a couple hours, so no real harm done. But I'd just like to ask, if any of you see any of my stories posted anywhere under a different name, PLEASE let me know._**

**_Kay, that's it from me. Yay, chapter!_**

* * *

They moved through the maintenance corridors until the Doctor found a likely looking door, pushing it open slowly to find a stairwell on the other side. It was littered with debris, and sparking cables hung down, but it was a start.

"Careful," he said over his shoulder as he pushed the door open further and started up the steps, trying to clear a path. "Follow me."

Rose came after him, trying to help, with the rest of the group close behind.

"Rather ironic, but this is very much in the spirit of Christmas," Mr Copper said as the group picked their way up the stairs, Rose in the front trying to help the Doctor. "It's a festival of violence. They say that human beings only survive depending on whether they've been good or bad. It's barbaric."

"Actually, that's not true," the Doctor said. "Christmas is a time of—of peace and thanksgiving and—what?"

Rose was staring at him with an arched eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Our Christamases are always like this."

"Hmm," he said, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Suppose you're right. Still…they usually end well. Turkey and prezzies—"

"_After _the narrowly averted global disaster," Rose added with a tongue in teeth grin.

"Right," he chuckled, pulling at a piece of fallen debris, and smiling when he saw the Host underneath. "We've got a Host! Strength of ten. If we can mend it, we can use it to shift the rubble."

"We can do robotics," Morvin offered, and he glanced back at them. "Both of us."

"We worked on the milk market back on Sto," Foon explained, nodding. "It's all robot staff."

"See if you can get it working," he said, sidestepping the angelic robot before reaching back for Rose's hand. "Let's have a look."

Another few steps higher, however, they came across a massive blockage to the area beyond.

"Well, that's just great," Rose muttered, already prodding and pulling at the accidental barricade. "You owe me an enormously better date, Doctor."

"Agreed," he said. One good thing about a crisis, he realized, was that there was nothing quite like it to propel them into more normal behavior, given their mutual ability to compartmentalize and ignore their issues on demand. Probably not particularly healthy…but useful, under the circumstances. He couldn't help enjoying the fact that some of the haunted look had left her eyes for the moment as well.

"Right, okay," he said after a moment, pulling himself from his thoughts. "Rickston, Mr Copper, and you, Bannakaffalatta…look, can I just call you Banna? It's gonna save a lot of time."

"No!" the little alien snapped. "Bannakaffalatta!"

"All right then, Bannakaffalatta," the Doctor said with a shrug. "There's a gap in the middle. See if you can get through."

"Easy," Bannakaffalatta said, scrambling up beside them. "Good."

"Careful," Rose cautioned as he squeezed through the opening. As he wriggled, the ship lurched, causing more debris to fall on and around them.

"This whole thing could come crashing down any minute!" Rickston exclaimed.

"Oh, Rickston, I forgot," the Doctor said, not even sparing him a glance. "Did you get my message?"

"No," Rickston said, confused. "What message?"

"Shut up!" he barked.

"Bannakaffalatta made it," came a voice from the other side, and they looked through the hole to see him waving his hand at them.

"I should fit," Rose said, leaning down. "I can shift it from the other side as well."

"Be careful," the Doctor warned, not entirely pleased with this idea, but having no substantial reason to argue with it.

"I'm small enough," Astrid added, coming up alongside him as Rose maneuvered her way through the gap. "I can get through, too...even out the teams a bit."

He nodded, helping her through after Rose.

"Thing is," Rickston said with a sneer and a glance down at the couple working on the Host. "How are Mr and Mrs Fatso gonna get through this gap?"

"We make the gap bigger," the Doctor said tersely. "So start."

"God, that man really is a piece of work," Rose muttered on the other side of the barricade as she helped Astrid to her feet. "Doctor? We're gonna try to clear it from this side, but tell us if it starts moving."

"Ten-four," he replied, and she leaned down to look at him through the gap, making him wince. "Yeah, never saying that again."

She shook her head and giggled as she straightened, tugging on various parts of the blockage experimentally before actually attempting to shift anything, Astrid working alongside her. She turned when the waitress stopped, looking behind them.

"Bannakaffalatta, what's wrong?" Astrid asked, going to the little alien's side. Rose turned to see him lying on his back, looking a little unhealthy.

"Sshhh," he whispered.

"What is it?" Rose asked, joining Astrid. "Are you hurt?"

"Can't say," Bannakaffalatta said. "Ashamed."

"Of what?" she asked, confused.

"Poor Bannakaffalatta," he replied mournfully, lifting up his shirt to reveal cybernetic parts underneath.

"You're a cyborg," she breathed.

"Had accident long ago," he said. "Secret."

"No, but everything's changed now," Astrid said. "Cyborgs are getting equal rights. They passed a law back on Sto. You can even get married."

"Marry you?" he asked, looking at her hopefully.

"Well, you can buy me a drink first," Astrid laughed. "Come on. Let's recharge you," she added, pressing a button on his torso. "Just stay there for a bit."

"Tell no one," he murmured to both of them.

"I promise," Astrid said.

"Of course," Rose agreed as she turned back to clearing the blockage.

"What's going on up there?" the Doctor voice called through the gap.

"Well, I think Astrid and Bannakaffalatta just got engaged," Rose said, leaning down to look at him through the gap, smirking at the impressed face he made.

oOoOo

"Morvin? Foon?" the Doctor called after another five minutes of clearing rubble. "How're we doing down there?"

"Almost done!" Morvin called back up.

"Good, good, good," the Doctor said, leaping for a comms station. "Mr Frame, how's things?" he asked into the mic.

"Doctor, I've got life signs all over the ship," Frame came back. "But they're going out one by one."

"What is it?" he asked, confused. "Are they losing air?"

"No," Frame said. "One of them said it's the Host. It's something to do with the Host."

At his words, the Doctor looked down in horror at the Van Hoffs working on the Host below him.

"It's working!" Morvin called up as the Host straightened.

"Kill," the Host said, going for Morvin's throat. "Kill. Kill."

"What's going on over there?" Rose shouted as the Doctor cursed.

"Nothing, s'fine, keep working!" he yelled back as he leapt down the stairs. "Turn it off!"

"Kill. Kill. Kill," the Host repeated.

"I can't, Doctor!" Foon cried desperately as she tried to negotiate with the controls.

"Go!" he ordered as he reached her, pulling out the sonic screwdriver and running it over the Host as she backed away. "Lock! Double deadlock!" He shoved the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket and reached forward to pry Morvin free. "Okay, go upstairs," he said as soon as Morvin was free.

"Run, darling, run!" Foon shrieked from the steps.

"Information," the Host said, turning on the Doctor, who dodged hurriedly. "Kill, kill, kill..."

"Rickston! Get them through!" he shouted.

"No chance!" he heard the businessman shout.

On the other side of the wall, Rose and Astrid were listening to the commotion with worried frowns. When Rickston darted through the hole, Rose was on him in a flash.

"Rickston, what is going on over there?" she demanded.

"Oh, nothing much," he said with acidic sarcasm. "Just the fatty twins have turned on a homicidal robot bent on killing us all."

Rose cursed, biting back the urge to rail on him for the comment about the Van Hoffs. "Listen, we've gotta make this hole bigger. Astrid, Rickston, help me."

"I'm not doing anything for those idiots," he spat.

"God, you are so useless," Rose snapped, turning away. "Astrid, help me with this."

"Useless?" Rickston cried indignantly. "I'll have you know that I make more in a _week _that those two lumps in—"

"No one _cares_, Rickston," Rose said, turning back to him for a moment. "Do you get that? It's not gonna make a difference if you're _dead_ anyhow!"

Mr Copper chose that moment to flop awkwardly through the hole in the barricade, and all three looked down at him for a moment before Rose helped him to his feet.

"We need to make the hole bigger," he said quickly. "The Host has gone insane, and the Van Hoffs—"

"So stop arguing and _do it_!" the Doctor shouted from the other side of the wall as he leapt for the coms panel and opened a line to the bridge. "It's the Host! They've gone berserk! Are you safe up there?"

Before he got an answer, he looked down to see the Host climbing the steps after them, and decided quickly that was going to have to be a warning rather than a question and scrambled up after Morvin.

"No, I'm stuck!" Foon was saying, while Rose and Astrid each had one of her hands on the other side of the wall.

"Come on," Astrid said. "You can do it!"

"It's going to collapse!" Mr Copper cried as the barricade shifted, leaping forward and grabbing a rod to use as a leaver and widen the gap. "Rickston, vot damn it, help me!"

"No…way," Rickston said from a few feet away.

"God, what an insufferable—" Rose muttered, standing to help Mr Copper, allowing Foon to finally squeeze through.

"Morvin, get through!" she heard the Doctor shout from the other side as the heavyset man ducked into the gap and struggled to make it through. The Host was still making its threats on the other side as she pushed harder on the rod.

"I am _so_ tired of metal murderers," she muttered, then called to the Doctor on the other side. "Doctor, I don't think we can get it any wider!"

"Mr van Hoff," the Doctor said from the other side. "I know we've only just met but you'll have to excuse me."

Morvin grunted as the Doctor evidently pushed from the other side, while Rose and Mr Copper managed to get another inch or two of space. Between them, Morvin finally managed to wriggle through

"That's it," Astrid said, helping him up. "We've got you."

"Doctor, come on!" Rose called, letting go of the rod to lean down to look through the gap at him. He spun around to look at the Host that was now directly behind him.

"Information override!" he yelled. "You will tell me the point of origin of your command structure!"

"I can't hold it!" Mr Copper said through gritted teeth, and Rose bit her lip as she glanced up at him and then back at the Doctor.

"Information," the Host said. "Deck 31"

"Thank you," he said, whirling around again and scrambling through the hole, grabbing Rose and pulling her away with him. He turned back after a couple of steps to shout, "Let go!"

On his order, Mr Copper released his grip in relief, and the gap collapsed heavily on the Host's head.

"You okay?" the Doctor asked Rose, his hand still on her waist. She nodded quickly, and he turned to the group. "Everyone else? No one hurt? Right, come on, let's keep moving."

They moved through the corridor, finding themselves in another open area.

"Morvin, look, food," Foon said, gesturing to a table near the center of the room.

"Oh great," Rickston said sarcastically. "Someone's happy."

"Don't have any then," Morvin shot back, moving toward the table with the others as the Doctor headed for the comms panel.

"You come get some too, dear," Foon called to Rose, who hovered uncertainly until the Doctor waved her toward the table while he got in touch with Frame. "You look like you could use some of this more than any of us."

"Foon!" Movin whispered reproachfully. "Sorry about that, Rose…she's a mother hen, she is. Always trying to take care of people, even if they don't need it."

"It's alright," Rose said, looking down as she grabbed a plate. She'd forgotten for a moment how her extreme thinness might look to others, and thought quickly. "I've…been ill."

"He's looking good for nine hundred and three," Astrid commented, determinedly changing the subject.

"Suppose so," Rose said with a grateful smile. "You should see him in the mornings though. Although…I'm definitely worse."

"You a…Time thingy from Gaddabee too?" Astrid asked.

"Nope," Rose said, loading down a plate. "I'm…sort of my own thing. Mostly human."

"Huh," Astrid said, looking back at the Doctor. "Must be an interesting life, though. You two do this often?"

"More than is probably healthy," Rose admitted. "We just can't seem to avoid it for long. Still…definitely keeps things from getting too dull."

She and Astrid smiled at each other before she turned and headed toward the Doctor, intent on getting some food in him as well.

"Let me know if you find anything," he was saying as she approached. "And keep those engines running!"

"Saved you some," Rose offered as he turned to her, taking off his glasses. "Even almighty Time Lords need to eat."

"Thanks," he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek as he took the plate and guided her over to a couple of boxes they could sit on as they picked at the food.

"How bad is it?" she asked after a moment.

"Well," he said, looking up thoughtfully. "We've got angelic robots that have lost their cybernetic minds, the bridge is deadlock sealed, and there's a portion of deck 31 that is resistant to all scanning. Oh, and there's the nuclear engines."

"So, business as usual, then," she said with a smile.

"Merry Christmas," he said, clicking his tongue as he grinned and threw her a wink.

"That's right, Doctor," Mr Copper said, stepping closer. "It must be well past midnight, Earth time. Christmas Day."

"This Christmas thing," Astrid said, drifting closer. "What's it all about?"

"Long story," the Doctor said. "I should know, I was there. I got the last room."

"Of course you did," Rose said with an eyeroll.

"But if the planet's waking up, can't we signal them?" Mr Copper asked. "They can send up a rocket or something."

"Yeah, they don't…really have spaceships," Rose said, shaking her head.

"No, I read about it," Mr Copper insisted. "They have shuffles, space shuffles."

"Mr Copper," the Doctor said slowly. "This degree in Earthonomics…where's it from?"

"Honestly?" Mr Copper asked, deflating a little.

"Just between us," the Doctor assured him.

"Mrs Golightly's Happy Travelling University and Dry Cleaners," the other man admitted, wiping his brow with a handkerchief before sitting down.

"You—you lied to the company…to get the job?" Astrid asked, stunned.

"I wasted my life on Sto," Mr Copper said. "I was a travelling salesman, always on the road and I reached retirement with nothing to show for it. Not even a home. And Earth sounded so exotic."

"Really?" Rose asked doubtfully. "Earth?"

"Hm, I suppose it is, yeah," the Doctor said with a head tilt. "If you're from Sto, anyway. Suppose, for you, it'd be like living in the Caribbean…doesn't feel exotic to you, just feels like home."

"Yeah, well, there's also some people that still think Majorca is exotic," she muttered, and he choked on his crab cake.

"How come you know it so well?" Astrid asked curiously, not having heard Rose's comment.

"Rose is from there," the Doctor said once his coughing had subsided, nodding at his wife. "I spent some time there a while back, and then I was sort of...a few years ago, was sort of made... well, sort of homeless, and, um there was the Earth. Sort of my adopted home, I suppose."

"Home by marriage," Rose said with a grin.

"Human by matrimony," he added. "Now, that…that's truly frightening."

"Oi!" she laughed, swatting at his arm.

"Thing is," Mr Copper said "If we survive this, there will be police and all sorts of investigations. Now the minimum penalty for space-age fraud is ten years in jail. I'm an old man. Well, I won't survive ten years."

This statement had an instant sobering effect, and the Doctor and Rose exchanged a glance, already trying to work out how to help this friendly if extremely misguided man out of trouble. Further conversation, however, was derailed as they heard a loud banging on the door.

"A Host!" the Doctor shouted, dropping the plate as he stood quickly, taking Rose's arm as he moved to the opposite door. "Move! Come on!"

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and ran it over the door as the group hurried after him, and Rose glanced back to see the steel door they'd originally come through denting from the force of the Host on the other side. She stepped aside as the Doctor opened the door, ushering everyone else through before darting after them to find herself in an enormous room that ran the height of the ship. There was a gap revealing the nuclear engines churning below, a fallen strut creating a sort of makeshift bridge across it.

"Is that the only way across?" Rickston asked in disbelief.

"On the other hand," the Doctor said, barely glancing at him, "it _is_ a way across."

"The engines are open," Astrid said.

"Nuclear storm drive," he explained. "Soon as it stops, the Titanic falls."

"But that thing," Morvin said, nodding at the beam. "It'll never take our weight."

"You're going last, mate," Rickston said quickly, and Rose once again had to force herself not to deck him.

"It's nitrofine metal," the Doctor said. "It's stronger than it looks."

"All the same, Rickston's right," Morvin said, stepping toward the railing. "Me and Foon should—"

His words ended with a scream as a weak piece of metal gave way beneath him, pitching him into the engines below.

"Morvin!" Foon wailed as he disappeared, the Doctor rushing to her side and putting an arm around her shoulders while the others watched in shock.

"I told you!" Rickston shouted. "I told you!"

"Just shut up!" Mr Copper snapped. "Shut up!"

"Bring him back!" Foon screamed hysterically. "Can't you bring him back? Bring him back, Doctor!"

"I'm sorry, I can't," he said softly.

"You promised me!" she shouted.

"I know," he said, watching a familiar grief and horror take hold of her. He was thrown back to the first moments after he lost Rose, and glanced up at his wife briefly before looking back at Foon, hating himself for not being able to spare her from that pain. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The group was quiet for a moment, but soon heard several Host marching closer, their repetitious promises to kill them grating on all their nerves.

"Doctor, I rather think those things have got our scent," Mr Copper said.

"I'm not waiting," Rickston said, leaping onto the beam and hurrying across.

"Careful!" the Doctor shouted, jumping up and darting over to the beam as Rose dropped to Foon's other side. "Take it slowly!"

A rumbling came from the engines, and Rickston slipped on the beam as the ship rocked. He fell forward and clung to the metal as the ship righted itself again, and they could hear him muttering to himself as he looked down.

"You're okay," the Doctor called, trying to reassure him. "One step at a time. Come on, you can do it."

"They're getting nearer!" Mr Copper shouted from the doorway. The Doctor glanced back at him, then at Rickston again, before turning and sprinting to the door, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and running it over the edge.

"Seal us in," he muttered under his breath.

"Leaving us trapped, wouldn't you say?" Mr Copper asked as the door slid closed.

"Never say trapped," he replied as he turned his screwdriver on the door controls, shorting them out and jamming the door. "Just…inconveniently circumstanced."

"I'm okay!" Rickston shouted from the beam, and the Doctor looked back at him to see him half way across the beam. He nodded, then looked back at Rose, kneeling with her arm around Foon.

"Maybe he's all right," Foon was saying hopefully, and he looked away. "Maybe—Maybe there's a gravity curve down there or something. I don't know. Maybe he's unconscious."

"I'm sorry, Foon," Rose said, tightening her arm around the other woman. "He's gone."

"What am I going to do without him?" Foon asked, starting to cry, and Rose looked up at the Doctor helplessly. He shook his head a little, opening his mouth—to say what, he had no idea—but looked across the gap when Rickston started whooping as he reached the other side. The Doctor shook himself, trying desperately to block out the memories that were bludgeoning him as Foon despaired, and ignore the panicked images of Rose following Morvin into the engines.

"Bannakaffalatta, you go next," he said, his voice sounding a little strangled, even to him.

"Bannakaffalatta, small," the little alien agreed, hopping onto the beam and jogging across.

"Slowly!" the Doctor called after him, then whirled as the Host started pounding on the door.

"They've found us!" Mr Copper yelled.

"Astrid, get across," the Doctor said, urging the waitress forward.

"Are you sure?" she asked, eyeing the beam.

"Yes, you'll be fine, go," he said, pushing her lightly toward the beam, and nodding when she stepped on and started picking her way across. "Mr Copper, we can't wait. Don't argue," he added when Mr Copper opened his mouth. The historian nodded and followed quickly after Astrid. "Rose, you've got to get across right now."

"What about you?" she asked, straightening up with Foon and glancing at the beam.

"I'll be right behind you, I promise," he said. "Please, just go. Foon, you too."

"What for?" Foon asked through her tears, and Rose hesitated, biting her lip. "What am I gonna do without him?"

"Rose, please go," he said, a little desperately. She held his gaze for a moment, then turned and climbed onto the beam.

"Doctor!" Rickston called from the other side. "The door's locked!"

"Just think," the Doctor said soothingly to Foon. "What would he want, eh?"

"He don't want nothing, he's dead!" she sobbed. The Doctor, having felt much the same way about Rose after she'd died, couldn't really argue with this. He pulled Foon into a hug as he wracked his brain for anything that would help her, at least long enough to get her moving and out of harm's way.

"Doctor, I can't open the door," Rickston called again. "We need the whirring key thing of yours!"

"I can't leave her!" the Doctor shouted back in an annoyed tone.

"She'll get us all killed if we can't get out!" Rickston shot back coldly.

The Doctor growled in frustration, turning back to Foon. "Mrs van Hoff, I am coming back for you, all right?"

She nodded, and he ran to the beam, leaping up behind Rose. As the moved across, the metal began to creak under the weight of all five of them.

"Too many people!" Bannakaffalatta yelled.

"Oi! Don't get spiky with me!" the Doctor shouted. "Keep going!"

There was another rumble from below, and then a creak of metal as the entire beam shook, knocking everyone down. The Doctor crawled closer to Rose, taking her hand as they straightened warily.

"It's gonna fall!" Astrid cried from further ahead.

"It's just settling!" he replid, squeezing Rose's hand a little. "Keep going!"

They'd all managed to shuffle forward a few more steps when the pounding on the door abruptly stopped, making them all pause again and look back.

"They've stopped," Rose said. "Why've they stopped?"

"Gone away?" Bannakaffalatta suggested.

"Why would they give up?" the Doctor asked, mostly to himself.

"Never mind that," Rickston snapped. "Keep coming!"

"But…where did they go?" Rose asked, looking around. "Where're the Host?"

"I'm afraid…we forgot the tradition of Christmas," Mr Copper said, looking up. "That angels have wings!"

He pointed, and they followed his gaze to see a group of Host gliding down from above them and surrounding them.

"Information," one of them said as they reached for their halos. "Kill."

"Arm yourselves!" the Doctor shouted, letting go of Rose to grab a pipe and hand it to her. "All of you!"

He leaned down and found another scrap of metal amidst the debris, straightening again quickly as halos started flying toward them. They batted them away with their makeshift weapons for a minute, then they began to falter. One knicked Mr Copper's leg, and Rose gave a shout when another grazed her arm. Further down the beam, Astrid fell to her knees.

"I can't," she said weakly.

"Bannakaffalatta stop!" the little alien suddenly burst out, throwing his bit of metal to the side. "Bannakaffalatta proud! Bannakaffalatta, cyborg!"

He lifted his shirt, and an energy pulse was discharged, disabling the Host and making them plummet into the engine below. Only one fell onto the strut, just behind the Doctor, and he spun around to stare at it in amazement.

"Electromagnetic pulse took out the robotics," he said, turning again. "Oh, Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!"

Bannakaffalatta smiled a little, then his cybernetic body let out a few beeps and he fell backwards. Astrid darted forward to examine him.

"He's used all his power!" she said.

"Did good?" the little alien asked weakly, and the Doctor stepped forward, touching Rose lightly on the waist. He could already see where this was going, and he was unraveling with each loss…he needed her to keep him grounded.

"You saved our lives," Astrid said, sniffling.

"Bannakaffalatta happy," he said.

"We can recharge you," Astrid said hopefully. "Get you to a power point and just plug you in!"

"Too late," the little alien said, and Rose stepped back against the Doctor's chest as his arm wound tighter around her waist, her hand going over her mouth.

"No, but…you gotta get me that drink, remember?" Astrid reminded him anxiously.

"Pretty girl," Bannakaffalatta said…then went limp. Astrid gasped and sniffled a little more, moving to button his shirt, but Mr Copper reached forward, stopping her.

"I'm sorry," he said, reaching for the cyborg's power source. "Forgive me."

"Leave him alone," she snapped.

"It's the EMP transmitter. He—he'd want us to use it," Mr Copper insisted as he removed it. "I used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. They're good people. But if we can recharge it, we can reuse it as a weapon against the rest of the Host. Bannakaffalatta might have saved us all."

"Do you think?" Rickston suddenly burst out acidly. "Try telling him that."

He pointed behind them, and they all whirled around to see the Host that had landed on the beam begin to move.

"Information," it said. "Reboot."

"Use the EMP!" Rickston shouted.

"It's dead!" Mr Copper shot back, shaking the device.

"It's gotta have emergency-" Astrid started, reaching for it and examining it.

"No, no, no. Hold on," the Doctor said quickly as the Host stood up and moved to hurl the halo once more. "Override…loophole…security protocol…ten! 666! Oh. 21, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Um, I dunno, 42! Uh, one!"

With that, the Host froze, standing impassively. "Information: state request."

"Good…right," the Doctor said, thinking quickly. "You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?"

"Information," it said. "No witnesses."

"But this ship's gonna fall on the Earth and kill everyone," he said. "The human race has nothing to do with the Titanic so that contravenes your orders, yes?"

"Information," it said. "Incorrect."

"But why do you want to destroy the Earth?" he asked, perplexed.

"Information: it is the plan."

"What plan?" he demanded.

"Information," the Host said. "Protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used."

"Could've warned us!" Rose said irritably.

"Information," it said. "Now you will die."

The Doctor backed up rapidly as the Host raised an arm again to throw the halo. It stopped suddenly when a lasso was thrown over its head and tightened around its body, pinning its arms to its side. The Doctor looked past it to see Foon standing behind it.

"You're coming with me," she said.

Then she closed her eyes and dove over the side, pulling the host down with her.

"No!" Rose shouted, dropping to her knees as the Doctor grabbed her waist to keep her from plummeting as well.

The others all watched helplessly as Foon and the Host disappeared into the churning engine below. After a moment, the Doctor straightened and helped Rose to her feet, his face hard.

"No more," he vowed, determined now that everyone that was still alive was going to damn well stay that way, if it was the last thing he did.


	5. The Host with the Most

The group finally made it out into another series of maintenance corridors, the Doctor's patience completely shot. He was down to five people in his little group, one more (probably injured) man sealed away on the bridge, and six billion people beneath him, and every single one of them was going to stay alive if he had anything to say about it.

"Right," he said, turning to the group. "Get up to Reception One. Once you're there, Mr Copper, you've got staff access to the computer. Try and find a way of transmitting an SOS. Astrid, you're in charge of this," he added, holding out the EMP. "Once it's powered up, it'll take out Hosts within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it? Rose, take this," he continued, handing over the sonic screwdriver. "I've preset it, but if anything happens, you know the setting for doors. Go, go! Mr Copper, I need you fighting fit. Astrid, where's the power point?"

"Under the comms," she supplied, a bit winded by his rapid fire instructions.

He darted over to the comms and held the EMP to the blue light on it. "When it's ready, that blue light comes on there."

"Hold on, Doctor," Rose said, stepping closer. "What're you gonna be doing in all this?"

"There's something down on Deck 31," he said, not looking at her. "I'm gonna find out what it is."

"Alone," she said.

"Yeah."

"I don't think so," she said with a disbelieving laugh.

He stood up, handing the EMP off to Astrid as he turned to her. "Yes, alone, because someone needs to get up to Reception, and I can move faster on my own."

"You can get dead a lot faster on your own too," Rose said, handing the screwdriver to Rickston. "Like he said, it's preset, just hold the button down and it'll open the doors."

"Rose, you're not coming with me," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, I am," she disagreed, crossing her arms resolutely.

He let out a frustrated growl. "We don't have time for this!"

"So stop arguing!" she shot back.

"You'll be safer in the group," he said desperately. "I need—They need you to...hold them together."

"They'll be fine," she said. "There's three of them. They'll watch each other's backs. Just like we do. Just like we _always_ do."

The Doctor thought quickly, trying to figure out the best way to make Rose go with Astrid and the others. If she went with him, she'd be far too much at risk, and he'd already done that enough today.

"Rose, I'll be fine," he said, grasping her upper arms, careful to avoid the cut left by the halo as he slouched down to look in her eyes. "I promise. I just want to find out what's down there, see if it can give us any clues about the Host or the whole 'why' of this situation. Regardless, I'll meet you up in Reception and we'll go from there."

"Doctor, do you remember the last thing you said to me in the Silo?" she asked slowly, and he stared at her, thrown. "Before _he _showed up, before everything went to hell and I didn't see you for a year and a half, do you remember what my last memory of you was, the only thing I had to hold on to?"

He stared at her for another second before the memory hit him, and his eyes shut painfully. The last time he saw her before he stepped on the Valiant, he'd kissed her and told her he'd be back before she knew it…and then she'd been stolen and left to rot in a cell for eighteen months without him. When he opened his eyes, she was still looking at him with a determined glint in her eyes, one that made all too much sense and one that he couldn't deny.

"You're not going down there alone," she said in a low voice.

"Alright," he said quietly after a moment, releasing her and standing up straight. "Alright. Rickston, don't you _dare _lose that! The three of you, your goals are to get to Reception, get out an SOS…and then _stay put_! You got that?" They nodded, but then everyone tipped as the ship once again gave a violent lurch. The Doctor leapt over to the comms again, leaning over Astrid to reach the bridge. "Mr Frame, you still with us?"

"It's the engines, sir," Frame's voice came back. "Final phase. There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left!"

"Don't worry, I'll get there," the Doctor said.

"The bridge is sealed off!" Frame protested.

"Yeah, yeah, working on it. I'll get there, Mr Frame, somehow." He looked down when the EMP beeped, and closed the comms line. "All charged up? Mr Copper, look after her. Astrid, look after him. Rickston, um...look after yourself. And I'll see you again, promise. Rose, c'mon."

"Be careful, you two," Astrid said hurriedly. She appeared to hesitate for a moment, then stepped forward and gave them both tight hugs. "For luck," she added.

"Thanks," the Doctor said, taking Rose's hand and turning to leave. "Good luck to you too."

They ran back over the makeshift bridge and through the corridors, slowing only when they approached another door. The Doctor put a finger to his lips and approached slowly, glancing inside, then ducking down and pulling Rose with him into the shadows.

_Okay, I'm gonna go_, he whispered into her mind, suddenly intensely grateful that they had access to silent communication over whispering. _If there's no Host by the time I reach the other doors, come through. If there __**are**__, just wait. I'm going to try to get them to lead me to whoever or whatever is in the shielded area in Deck 31...I'm betting that's where we're going to find our answers._

_And then what do I do_? she asked suspiciously.

_You follow them_, he replied. _Us. Cause chances are, I'm not gonna have a whole lot of freedom of movement at that point. So it's gonna be down to you_.

_And you wanted to come alone_, she thought, rolling her eyes.

He arched a brow, but didn't feel the need to add anything else before moving to the door again.

"Wait," she whispered aloud, and he stopped, turning to her. She leaned in and kissed him hard, her hand reaching up to bury her fingers in his hair. He angled his head a little, his hand going to her waist, not to crush her closer but just to assure himself of her as their lips met, parted, and caressed. He pulled away slowly after a moment, resting his forehead on hers.

"I love you, Rose," he said softly.

"Always, my Doctor," came her standard reply, and he smiled a little before taking a deep breath and standing up. She stood as well, moving to one side of the door, and he glanced at her for a nod before stepping through the doorway.

He took a few wary steps, and wasn't really surprised when he was quickly surrounded by four Host. He glanced around as they advanced, grabbing a pot and hoisting it up to fend off any renegade halos that came his way.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" he shouted. "Security protocol one! Do you hear me? One! One!" He paused when all four stopped and put their arms down passively. He straightened and turned to face one of them. "Okay, that gives me three questions. Three questions to save my life, am I right?"

"Information," it said. "Correct."

_Way to go, genius_, Rose's voice said in his mind.

"No, that wasn't one of them," he protested. "I didn't mean it. That's not fair. Can I start again?"

"Information," it said. "No."

"No, no!" he said, glancing around at them. "No, no, no. That wasn't one either!"

_Two down, _Rose's voice whispered.

_Yes, thank you, dear, I __**can**__ count, _he retorted.

_Sure about that?_

_I'm thinking! _he shot back, and she fell silent.

"Blimey," he said, his thoughts racing. "One question left. One question. So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors but survivors must therefore be passengers or staff, but not me. I'm not a passenger. I'm not staff. Go on, scan me. You must have bio records. No such person on board. I don't exist therefore...you can't kill me. Therefore, I'm a stowaway and stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest figure of authority. And I reckon the nearest figure of authority is on Deck 31. Final question: am I right?"

"Information...correct," the Host said, and he grinned.

"Brilliant," he said. "Take me to your leader."

_Do you __**always**__ have to say that? _Rose asked, and he could practically hear the groan she'd let out if she could.

_Yep_, he thought back, still smiling as the Host ushered him through the door. _Stay far enough back that they can't see you...and keep a look out for any more._

_Ten-four,_ she thought.

_...Really, Rose?_

_Really, Doctor._

He shook his head a little, but stopped when a host paused and regarded him stoically for a moment.

_Be careful,_ he warned before they both went silent again.

oOoOo

Rose followed silently, keeping to the shadows and thanking her own sense for making her choose flats for this particular adventure. They passed on other group of Host on the way, but they were docile in the presence of the others, and she managed to stay hidden away. When they finally reached what appeared to be their destination, another large room with an opening to the engines, she hid herself away in a corner behind the bulk of a forklift.

"Now that is what you call a fixer-upper," the Doctor said, looking around at the chaos caused by debris and broken pipes and strips of metal. "Come on then, Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours, who is it?" She heard the pneumatic hiss of doors opening, and eased around the forklift a little to get a better look as some sort of vehicle lumbered out. "Ooh, that's clever. That's an omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible. You can survive anything in that, eh? Sit through a supernova or a shipwreck. Only one person can have the power and the money to hide themselves onboard like this and I should know, 'cause…"

"My name is Max," said the head resting within the machinery, a mobile life support system. Rose arched an eyebrow when the head smiled and its gold tooth glinted.

"It really does that," the Doctor said, sounding bemused.

"Who the hell is this?" Max demanded.

"I'm the Doctor," he said in a friendly voice. "Hello."

"Information," one of the Host said. "Stowaway."

"Well…"

"Kill him," Max said curtly, and Rose's gaze shot to the Doctor in panic.

"Oh, no, no!" the Doctor said quickly, backing up a step and holding out his hands in supplication. "Wait, but you can't. Not now. Come on, Max…You've given me so much good material like…How to get ahead in business. See 'head'? 'Head in business'? No?"

_Stop_, Rose whispered into his mind, adding an annoyed tinge to the thought.

"Oh, ho ho," Max said. "The office joker. I like a funny man. No one's been funny with me for years."

"I can't think why," the Doctor commented, eyeing the contraption.

"176 years of running the company have taken their toll," Max said with a sigh.

"Yeah, but...nice wheels," the Doctor said with a smile.

_Seriously, stop_, Rose thought again, rolling her eyes. _If you're going to be cheeky, at least use good jokes._

"No, a life-support system in a society that despises cyborgs," Max said, ignoring the strangled cough the Doctor gave that may have been disguising a laugh. "I've had to hide away for years. Running the company by hologram. Host, situation report."

"Information," one of them said. "Titanic is still in orbit."

"Let me see," he said irritably as he moved forward, the Doctor stepping hurriedly out of the way. "We should have crashed by now. What's gone wrong? The engines are still running! They should have stopped!"

"When they do, the Earth gets roasted," the Doctor said slowly. "I don't understand. What's the Earth got to do with it?"

"This interview is terminated," Max shouted, spinning around and trundling back to his impact chamber."

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor yelled, dashing around him and stopping in front of him. "Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! I can work it out. It's like a task. I'm your apprentice. Just watch me. So... Business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh yes! No. Yes. The business isn't failing, it's failed. Past tense."

"My own board voted me out," Max spat. "Stabbed me in the back."

"If you had a back," the Doctor said with a shrug. Rose didn't even bother to comment this time, merely rolling her eyes. "So...You scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors in case anyone's rumbled you and the board find their shares halved in value. Oh, but that's not enough. No, 'cause if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys an entire planet. Outrage back home. Scandal! The business is wiped out."

"And…the whole board thrown in jail for mass murder," Max added gleefully.

"While you sit there," the Doctor said contemptuously. "Safe inside the impact chamber."

"I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins," Max said. "And enough off-world accounts to retire me to the beaches of Pentaxico Two where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of…metal."

"So that's the plan," the Doctor scoffed as Rose shuddered. "A retirement plan. 2000 on this ship, 6 billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered. And why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser."

"I never lose," Max snapped.

"You can't even sink the Titanic," the Doctor taunted, not even bothering to disguise his scorn.

"Oh, but I can, Doctor," Max assured him with a smile. "I can cancel the engines from here."

Rose looked up and around as an alarm started blaring around them while a computer voice reported that the engines were closing. She looked back at the Doctor, thinking quickly…then looked to the side at the forklift.

oOoOo

"You can't do this!" the Doctor shouted.

"Host, hold him," Max ordered, and two of the Host quickly caught hold of each of the Doctor's arms, pulling him away from Max.

"Not so clever now, Doctor," Max said in a patronizing tone as the Doctor glared at him. Somewhere, Rose was still out there, hopefully figuring out a way to override this. He wasn't sure how she was going to manage it without even the sonic screwdriver, but she was good…she'd figure out something. She had to. Because if she couldn't…then he'd failed her again.

"A shame we couldn't work together," Max continued, shattering his thoughts. "You're rather good. All that banter yet not a word wasted. Time for me to retire. The Titanic is falling. The sky will burn. Let the Christmas inferno commence. Oh! Oh, Host! Kill him."

_Rose! _he thought desperately as one of the Host not holding on to his arms removed its halo and moved to strike.

"Mr Capricorn!" Rose's voice rang out, and he turned to see her sitting in a forklift. "I think maybe you should quit while you're ahead."

He gaped at her as she started the forklift and rushed towards Max.

"Rose, don't!" he cried, already seeing all the ways this could end badly.

She got the fork under Capricorn's life support machine, lifting it enough that the front tires spun uselessly. The rear tires, however, retained enough traction to create a standoff between them. The Doctor gave another shout as the Host who'd been primed to kill him let its halo loose at Rose instead, and he drew a shuddering breath when it careened off the side instead of hitting her. His relief was short-lived, however, when he realized what had occurred instead.

"He's cut the break line!" he shouted at Rose, horrified.

_NO! _he screamed in her mind as she turned and looked at him, but she only shook her head, and, after reaching for something below her that he couldn't see, resolutely raised the fork of the truck, lifting Capricorn off his wheels. The little truck shot forward, breaking through the guardrail in front of the engines.

"_ROSE!_" the Doctor shouted, anguished—

And then the truck was over the lip of the gap. The Host released him and he rushed forward toward the gap, chest heaving as he prayed to any god that would listen that he could still catch her, if he could still feel her she was still there, she wasn't gone yet, hadn't fallen into the engine yet—

And heard a groan from his left. He turned, stunned, to see Rose sitting up carefully, rubbing her arm.

"Mental note," she said as he stared at her. "Jumping from moving vehicles really, _really_ hurts."

"What the _hell_ were you thinking?" he demanded, striding over to her and grabbing her arms to pull her upright roughly.

"I had a plan!" she explained hurriedly. "A backup. There was a chunk of metal, I weighed down the pedal—"

"_That_ was your plan?" he yelled, shaking her a little. "Do you know what could have happened if you'd been just a _second _too late with your little jump?"

"Good thing I wasn't," she shouted, pulling herself from his grasp. "But it wasn't like you were going to be able to do anything useful. That's what we _do_, Doctor, take the risks no one else can."

"No, that's what _I_ do!" he insisted, towering over her and shaking with fury. "Don't you _dare_ ever pull a completely _stupid_ stunt like that again."

"And what the hell gives you the right to order me around like that?" she demanded, glaring up at him.

"Because next time you die, I won't be able to bring you back!" he shouted. As soon as he realized what he said, he looked away, clenching his jaw. "We don't have time for this," he ground out after a moment. "Come on."


	6. Not Always Alright

"Titanic falling," the computer intoned as the Doctor strode away from the gap revealing the engine below. "Voyage terminated."

Rose followed, neither of them looking back as explosions caused by the rocking of the plummeting ship went off behind them. After a moment, the Doctor stopped, taking Rose's arm and pulling her around in front of him, then looping it around his neck. His face was still hard, and she looked up at him in confusion.

"Hold on," he said flatly. "And duck your head."

She looped her other arm around his neck as well, grasping tightly and burying her face in his neck as he held out his arms. She thought she head his breath hitch, but he didn't give any other reaction as two Host stepped forward on either side of him. He snapped, and each took hold of one of his arms. He was left with just enough room to hold her to him tightly before the Host ascended into the air, pulling them along. The gathered speed as they flew higher, and Rose squeezed her eyes closed just before they impacted with the ceiling, crashing into the room above.

"Deadlock broken," a computer voice said as the Doctor detangled one arm from the Host, then the other, keeping one on Rose at all times before pushing her up onto the bridge and scrambling up after her.

"Ah, Midshipman Frame," he said in a bright voice to the stunned man at the wheel. "At last!"

"Uh, but-but the Host!" the man stammered as the Doctor stepped quickly over to the controls.

"Controller dead they divert to the next highest authority," the Doctor said. "And that's me."

"There's nothing we can do," Frame said, looking around hopelessly and clutching his side. "There's no power. The ship's gonna fall."

"Never gonna happen," Rose said in a sure voice, and the Doctor glanced at her as he took the wheel, his face softening slightly. "The Doctor'll take care of it. Listen, what's your name? Your first name."

"Uh," Frame said, glancing between them. "Uh, Alonzo, Miss."

"You're kidding," she said, smiling a little as she exchanged a look with the Doctor.

"Um, no," he said, looking puzzled. "Why?"

"Something else I've always wanted to say," the Doctor said, grinning at him. "Allons-y Alonzo!"

He spun the wheel, and the ship lurched violently. Before long, the whole room had tilted, and Alonzo was screaming. Rose struggled to stay upright, looking at the controls, and her eye caught the planet proximity indicator.

"What're you doing?" she yelled at the Doctor.

"Hopefully being brilliant," he shouted back, his arms shaking as he struggled with the wheel. The bridge took on a red glow as the hull of the ship caught fire as it descended through the atmosphere. He was driving them straight down to the planet below…and he was upset that she'd jumped out of a bloody forklift.

The room lit up with blinding sun a moment later as it sailed down past the atmospheric layers, and all of them had to squint in the sudden brightness. Rose looked down again at the proximity indicator, punching a few buttons until she narrowed down the approximate impact zone.

"Of course," she spat, and he glanced down over her shoulder and groaned before stabbing at the buttons of the comms and pulling a telephone handset to his ear.

"Hello, yes, um...could you get me Buckingham Palace?" he said into the phone quickly. "Yes, I'm serious. Yes, that's exactly it, wanna wish the Queen a merry Christmas," he added, rolling his eyes. His demeanor changed again when the line connected with the palace, his words once again staccato and authoritative. "This is the Doctor. The Queen needs to be evacuated immediately. Listen to me! Security Code 771! Now get out of there!"

He slammed the phone down, and Rose bit her lip, looking back down at the readings. Her jaw dropped when, after just a few more seconds, the engine display went from a fiery red to a happy green as the computer announced that the engine was once again active. The Doctor immediately pulled back on the wheel, sending both Rose and Alonzo flying back into the wall behind him. She looked up to see him straining and bent backwards as they flew closer to the palace, the ship changing coarse with a maddening sluggishness—and then they were soaring over it, sailing back into the sky. She stared out the window, stunned, as the Doctor laughed, relaxing and suddenly seeming thrilled to be at the helm. She darted up to him, kissing his cheek and laughing as Alonzo began ringing the ship's bell, overjoyed at their survival.

While the Doctor continued working to stabilize the ship and get the autopilot back online, Rose looked back to see Alonzo had sunk to the floor behind them. She stepped over to him, sitting down next to him, reaching over to pull his hand from his side. Blood stained his shirt from what was obviously a fairly severe wound. If she had to guess, she'd wage it was a bullet that had grazed him, but still managed to do a fair amount of damage on the way.

"You did all that…with this?" she asked, looking up at him.

"What else was there to do?" he asked, confused.

She laughed, then gave him her best tongue in teeth grin. "Alonzo Frame…you're a hero."

He sputtered denials, but Rose only shook her head as she reached for the first aid kit above her head, making quick work of the wound with some cleansing wipes, insta-stitches, gauze, and tape. Just as she was finishing up, the Doctor stepped away from the controls and slid down the wall next to her.

"So what did it?" Rose asked, her eyes raking over his face. He suddenly looked very, very tired. She suddenly remembered that he hadn't slept the night before; she wasn't entirely sure when he'd last slept at all.

"The heat of re-entry fired up the secondary storm drive," he said, nodding at the controls, then flashing a tight grin. "Unsinkable, that's me."

"We made it," Frame said, still in shock.

"Not all of us," the Doctor said in a low voice. His eyes took on a brooding, faraway look for a moment, then he shook himself and struggled to his feet. He reached down after the briefest hesitation to help Rose to her feet, and she looked up at his closed off expression as she straightened. Still angry then. Not furious like before...but definitely not happy. "C'mon," he said, turning away from her and towards the door. "Let's see if anyone else managed to survive."

They were both silent as they made their way back down to reception. As the adrenaline left her system, Rose started shivering, running her hands over her bare arms. Just before they reached the reception doors, the Doctor peeled off his jacket and held it out, rolling his eyes and shaking it impatiently when she looked up at him in question. She slid her arms in, and he settled it on her shoulders, squeezing briefly before taking her hand and tugging her into Reception One.

Immediately, Astrid threw herself at them, launching herself first at the Doctor and making his breath leave him in a whoosh, then turning to Rose and hugging her tightly.

"I dunno how you did it," she said, grinning widely. "But I'm pretty sure you deserve some sort of best stowaway award. I don't think any of us would be alive if it weren't for you."

"Well done, both of you," Mr Copper said, joining them. "How did you manage it?"

"Well…" the Doctor said, trailing off, then grinned. "Now, Mr Copper, can't reveal all my secrets, can I? Where's the fun then?"

"I suppose you're right," Mr Copper said with a little chuckle. "And, I suppose…it doesn't really matter much. Just matters that we all made it out alive, and those people on Earth will be able to find out if their biscuit offerings to Santa were enough to stave off his fury for another year, without us distracting them."

"Exactly," Rose said, laughing. "Exactly right."

They turned when they heard footstep behind them to see Midshipman Frame approaching them, looking far more composed and authoritative.

"The engines have stabilized," he reported. "We're holding steady till we get help and I've sent the SOS. A rescue ship should be here within twenty minutes. And they're digging out the records of Max Capricorn. It should be quite a story."

"They'll want to talk to all of us, I suppose," Mr Copper said uneasily.

"I'd have thought so, yeah," Frame said before moving away, checking the rescue ETA again.

"I think, uh, one or two inconvenient truths might come to light," Mr Copper said uncomfortably, then sighed. "Still, it's my own fault, and ten years in jail is better than dying."

Before anyone could think of a reply for this, Rickston approached, his impeccable suit and hair rumpled beyond recognition and his eyes suspiciously moist.

"Doctor…I never said…thank you," he said, then gave the Doctor a hug—though the Doctor stayed stiff until he pulled away. "The funny thing is," he continued, "I said Max Capricorn was falling apart. Just before the crash, I…sold all my shares, transferred them to his rivals. It's made me rich. What do you think of that?"

He gave a pompous, self-important smile, and Rose's patience with the man finally snapped. Without even pausing for second thoughts, she pulled her arm back and hit him hard, and he went down like a tree, his vone still ringing.

"Trophy wife my ass," she muttered, shaking her stinging hand. She looked up to see the other three gaping at her. "What?"

"He's had that coming for _hours_," Astrid said as the Doctor shook his head with a small chuckle.

"Of all the people to survive, he's not the one you would have chosen, is he?" Mr Copper observed, looking down at the prone man.

"I've found that the universe rarely consults my opinion on who should live or die," the Doctor said, frowning and prodding Rickston with his shoe.

"But if you could choose, Doctor, if you decide who lives and who dies," Mr Copper said, shrugging. "That would make you a monster."

Rose looked up to see a muscle work in the Doctor's jaw as he turned his gaze up to the ceiling. Then he let out a shuddering breath and looked at the three of them in turn before reaching behind him to the teleport station, coming back with four bracelets.

"Astrid, Mr Copper," he said, holding up two of them. "I think you both deserve one of these."

They both stared at him for an instant, then smiled and took the bracelets. He handed another one to Rose before slipping the last one on his own wrist. Rose looked up to see Frame notice them and straighten in alarm as the Doctor started the teleport machine, but rather than protest, he stood to attention, snapping off a sharp salute. The Doctor and Rose both gave a lazy salute in return before a light flashed, and all four of them were teleported to the planet below.

oOoOo

"So, Great Britain is part of, uh, 'Europee'," Mr Copper was saying as they trekked back to the TARDIS. "And just across the British Channel you've got Great France and Great Germany."

"No, they're just France and Germany," Rose corrected. "Only Britain is great."

"Snob," the Doctor said softly.

"Better believe it," she agreed with a grin.

"Oh, and they're all at war with the continent of Ham-erica?" Mr Copper continued, not hearing them.

"No," the Doctor said, then tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well...not yet, uh...could argue that one. Oh, there she is!" he said happily as they approached the ship. He walked up to it and patted it fondly. "Survive anything."

"You know," Mr Copper said, looking around. "Just between us, I don't even thing this snow is real. I think this is the ballast from the Titanic's salvage entering the atmosphere."

"You know, one of these days, we might have real snow," Rose said with a sigh.

"Snowed in Cardiff," the Doctor reminded her.

"That was _ages_ ago," she retorted, and he smiled a little.

"So, um, what're you two gonna do now?" Astrid asked hesitantly.

"Oh, same old life," the Doctor said with a shrug. "Travelling in the TARDIS."

"O-on your own?" Astrid asked, and Rose didn't miss the hope in the waitress' voice. "Only, I'm sort of...unemployed now..."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said softly, sounding genuinely contrite, and Rose looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't actually heard him deny someone before, except maybe Adam. "It's just me and Rose. We've...well...we're just better off on our own for the moment."

"What about us?" Astrid asked, glancing at Mr Copper. The Doctor hesitated for a moment, then turned a thoughtful gaze on Mr Copper.

"Give me that credit card," he said.

"Well, it's just petty cash, spending money," Mr Copper said, handing it over. "It's all done by computer. I - I didn't really know the currency so I thought a million might cover it."

"A million?" Rose asked, her eyes popping out. "A million _pounds_?"

"That enough for trinkets?" he asked uncertainly.

"Mr Copper," the Doctor said slowly. "A million pounds is worth 50 million credits."

"How much?" Mr Copper asked, stunned.

"50 million and 56," he said, face scrunched up as he did the calculations mentally.

"I—I've got money!" Mr Copper said.

"Yes, you have," the Doctor said, handing the card back. "Both of you," he added with a meaningful look at Astrid.

"Why, yes," Mr Copper said, putting an arm around a surprised Astrid's shoulders. "Yes, of course. Oh my word. Oh my vot. Oh my goodness me!"

"It's not the stars," the Doctor said to Astrid as Mr Copper did a little dance. "But it's still a brand new sky. It's all yours—Planet Earth."

"Thank you, Doctor," Astrid said with a smile, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

"Be careful," Rose said, stepping forward to hug her, then Mr Copper.

"Oh, we will," Mr Copper said.

"No interfering," the Doctor warned. "I don't want any trouble. Just…just have a nice life. And take care of each other."

"You too," Astrid said.

He glanced down at Rose briefly before returning his gaze to Astrid. "We always do."

He and Rose both smiled as Mr Copper began skipping away, talking about having real houses with doors and windows and carpets, Astrid following after him and adding her own enthusiastic plans. After a moment, the Doctor turned and put a hand on Rose's shoulder, urging her into the ship as he opened the door. He didn't say anything as he moved up the console, maneuvering them into the Vortex, but his movements were slow, that exhaustion she'd seen earlier becoming starkly evident again as she approached him hesitantly.

"Doctor," she said, frowning as a thought struck her.

"Hmm?" he asked, not looking up.

"What was it you were gonna say to the other you?" she asked. "Before, when you were talking about Nessa and Tegan and Time Lords in funny hats—you just sort of…stopped."

The Doctor continued to work the controls, and she thought for a moment he wasn't going to answer her at all.

"The Master," he said finally, looking up at her for a brief second. "He was gonna face the Master. Not as bad as this time, but…still the Master. "

His furious words from earlier came back to her, and she stroked a hand down his arm, thinking about the fact that her being alive didn't really undo any of the damage caused by her death. That was why he'd choked on the name earlier. The loss of Bannakaffalatta and the Van Hoffs would only highlight that for him. Especially the Van Hoffs, she realized, remembering the pained look on his face when he spoke to Foon—he wasn't just sympathizing with her, he was reliving his own pain through her.

"Doctor," she said softly. "About earlier—"

"Not now," he said, stepping away from the console. "I just...I can't do that. Not right now. Please, Rose."

She hesitated, then nodded. He couldn't avoid it forever...but she could give him right now. He reached a hand out to touch her cheek, moving his thumb over her skin lightly, before turning away down the corridor into the rest of the ship. The TARDIS gave an anxious hum that echoed in Rose's mind, and she ran a hand over the console.

"I know," she said softly. "I'm worried about him too."

oOoOo

"_Beg," the Master said, leaning down toward the Doctor as his eyes flicked madly between the screen and his enemy. "Come on, say it. Beg me not to kill her."_

_Her voice whispered through his mind, telling him she loved him, that she wouldn't have missed it for the world, all using his name, his real name, not the title he hid behind. The one that was etched on his soul, next to her own brand._

"_I'm begging you," he said, his voice hoarse, every fiber of his being willing the other man to stop. "Don't kill her."_

"_Tough," the Master said curtly, straightening up and putting the walkie-talkie to his lips. "Fire."_

_A violent burst of pain through his head robbed him of any thought, before the feeling of slow, acidic decay burned through his mind, making him scream in agony as Rose's presence was stripped from him. Flashes of her smiling face danced across his mind's eye, accompanied by the ghost of her laugh and soft whispers of love. It went on for an eternity but was over in seconds, and he was left bereft, wishing for the pain to return, because that at least would be something more than the chasm left behind. He felt cold, hollowed out, and more alone than ever as he whispered her name like a prayer._

_He heard Jack's voice coming to him from a distance, pleading with him to make it not true, for it to have been a trick. It was only when the Master knelt next to him that he felt at all present again._

"_What do you think, Doctor?" the murderer asked._

_Immediately, every nerve within him burned, and he had to choke back bile as rage and hate bubbled up and filled the void Rose had left behind until it overflowed, tightening every despicably ancient and atrophied muscle until his entire frame was shaking. He looked up at the Master, and saw the flash of recognition in his eyes that he'd finally broken them, that the Doctor had meant it when he said the Master could never come back from this._

"_No, Jack," he said, his voice sounding strange and foreign to his own ears, hollow and distant. "It's no trick. Rose Tyler is dead."_

_Then Jack was yelling as he was taken away, and the Master was standing, staring down at him coldly before turning and walking swiftly away. And the Doctor was alone, alone with a grief he couldn't begin to cope with as he hung his head, his mind closing in on itself in front of a screen still showing the broken body of his wife, left where it had fallen after she'd died alone._

oOoOo

The Doctor sat up with a strangled cry, sheets wrapped around his legs and sweat beading on his forehead. He took a few gasping breath, his hearts hammering, before he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Doctor?" Rose asked, her voice anxious, and he looked down to see a concerned frown creasing the skin between her sleepy eyes. "What is it? What happened?"

Rather than answer right away, he reached out, dragging her closer until she was in his lap, hugging her to him tightly. He tried desperately to rein back the terror and panic brought on by the dream, the same dream he'd been having for nine months, reassuring himself that she was there, body and mind. After a moment he pulled back, one hand moving to her cheek as he looked down at her.

"Don't die," he said in a broken voice. "Not again. Okay? Please. Don't say anything, don't promise anything…just…just don't do it. Don't die. 'Cause I won't survive it again. Please, Rose…please don't die."

The last word was choked out with a sob as something in him snapped, all the grief and anger and loss that he'd managed to somehow hold back suddenly crashing through, tears he hadn't allowed himself to shed pouring from him as she pulled him closer. For a moment, all he could hear was the blood pounding in his own ears as her fingers ran through his hair soothingly, but as the emotional storm subsided, he could hear her soft whispers of reassurance and love that sounded like a choir of angels to his starved heart.

She didn't stop until after he'd quieted, regaining some scrap of composure slowly. She held him for another long moment afterwards, before finally pulling back, touching her forehead to his and running a thumb over his cheekbone. Then she tilted her head up and kissed him on the forehead, whispering that she'd be right back before crawling off the bed. She returned a moment later with a cool, damp cloth, and he let out a broken chuckle as he shifted into a cross-legged position and took it from her, running it over his face as she settled in front of him. He tossed the cloth onto the nightstand when he'd gotten as much relief from it as he was going to, then looked at Rose, feeling her quiet, wordless support of him even when she was still broken herself.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice hoarse. "For that. I'm not…it's not realistic, and you don't need that right now, me falling apart."

"Shut up," she said, rolling her eyes. "That's how it works. We're a team, we support each other…for better or worse, yeah?" she asked, giving him a small smile as she reached up to stroke his cheek. "You don't _always_ have to be alright, Doctor."

He leaned into her touch, sucking in a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I know," she said, her thumb running over his cheekbone. "To be fair, I probably should've let you in on the plan before I actually did it. It just…dunno, felt good to _do_ something, control something, without anyone's input…and I think I might have a lower than usual tolerance for someone telling me no."

"That…makes sense," he said, nodding, then sighed. He reached up for her hand, intertwining her fingers with his own. "Thing is, Rose…thing is…you know, there's something to be said for the importance of shields."

"Shields," she repeated blankly.

"Oh, yeah," he said sagely, nodding again. "See, shields keep a person safe, letting them cruise through a universe teaming with dangerous flotsam and jetsam and remain, on the whole, untouched and unscathed. And me, I've spent…centuries building up shields, keeping something between me and everyone else, knowing that it was better for everyone that way. At least, that was the plan. And then I met you. And you…you didn't just get past them, you _danced _through them. And now…now I'm not afraid of you…not anymore. Well, a little, because you know exactly how to look at me and pout your lips and bat your eyelashes and get exactly what you want, and that's…alarming." He paused, trying to collect his thoughts his thoughts again. It was so easy to give in, let his mind wander, to joke and skate past the issue, but he didn't want to. Not with her, not right now. He drew in a deep breath, looking down at their joined hands. "The point is, now you're inside, you're a part of me, and instead of trying to protect myself from you…now I have to protect you. And I couldn't. My shields weren't enough to keep you safe, to keep you alive. You died because you were important to me…and because I failed you. And the thought of that happening again, of failing to protect you and losing you again because of it, _that_ terrifies me, more than anything else we could face."

"It wasn't your fault, Doctor," she said quietly, and he looked up at her. "None of it. Not what I experienced, or what you did. You've got to know that."

"I've got a healthy dose of blame aimed at the Master too, trust me," he said darkly. "If you hadn't come back—" He stopped, swallowing back the words. The weight of the gun in his hand had been so tempting, and it was only that slight tingle, the reminder that there was someone who thought him better than that, despite what had tried to rip her away, that made him pause. If her death had proved permanent, he was almost certain he would have killed the Master right then.

"But I did," she said, breaking into his sinister thoughts. "And I'm almost positive that you had a hand in ensuring that I wasn't on the Valiant in case the worst happened. So you did save me, Doctor. I'm alive because of you."

"That's not what I see in my dreams," he said dully, the images and emotions flashing through his mind again. "Every time I sleep…I just see you—" His jaw clenched and he looked down as his eyes started burning again.

"The last nine months don't just cease to exist," she murmured, shifting until she was in his lap, her knees on either side of his hips. She lifted his hand and put it to her chest, and he felt the steady thrum of heart beneath his fingers. "But I'm here. And I'm alive. And, so long as I have a say in it, I'm gonna stay that way for a long time. Alright? It'll get easier, Doctor. S'like you said, it just takes time."

"I am rather brilliant," he quipped, then looked up into her eyes. "I think…maybe…we should try to dial down the peril for a little while, if we can."

"I think that's probably a really good idea," she said with a smile. "With that in mind…I think I know what'll make us feel a lot better."

"What's that?" he asked curiously.

"Hot chocolate with some of that amazing chocolate liquor form Mishevra, a roaring fire, and _Holiday Inn_," she supplied easily.

"Rose Tyler," he said, a smile growing on his face. "Are you actually offering to willingly submit yourself to Fred Astaire to make me feel better?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling at him. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, love," he murmured, reaching a hand up to pull her down for a long kiss. Eventually, she managed to pull away, and he allowed himself to be dragged off, both of them distracting themselves from their fresh hauntings.

They weren't alright, but that was okay. Because time was one thing they had at their vast disposal, and were more than happy to take advantage of it. The Doctor and Rose Tyler, the old team…

Just as it should be.

* * *

_**And that's another story done for. Sorry for the extensive amount of time between updates on this one...school's kicking my butt a little right now, but finals are next week, and then I'm done for the semester, yay! That also means I'll actually be able to start real work on the next story, Just a Bit Unlikely, rather than just thinking vague outlining thoughts about it. I'll throw up a notice on here and on Howling with the Storm when that one starts posting, just to cover all my bases. I'm still aiming to start posting around Christmas. I might have a couple of one shots in the mean time...I'm still not sure. But regardless, until then, thank you as always for the wonderful reviews and PMs...you guys are awesome, and all deserve cookies and gold stars and...like...puppies and crap. If you follow me on Tumblr, I'll still be around, slowly but surely posting edits of WaT, and always happy to talk...and really, if it gets close to (or *gulp* past) Christmas, feel free to send me a note to give me a kick in the rear to start posting. Otherwise, see you guys in a couple of weeks!**_


	7. Notice

Christmas Eve! You know what that means!

Season 4 story is starting..._Just a Bit Unlikely. _Really short prologue is up now, and I'm going to add the first real chapter tonight or tomorrow.

Don't review on this, I'm gonna take it down in a day or two...and I'm adding it to all my stories in this 'verse just to cover all my bases, and catch any followers I might miss otherwise.

Merry Christmas!

~Whoson1st


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